LA mayor and fire chief's public feud: Inside the fallout over January's wildfire

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How the conflict between two key leaders played out, each side's accusations and what the LAFD budget numbers reveal.

LA mayor and fire chief's public feud: Inside the fallout over January's wildfire

How the conflict between two key leaders played out, each side's accusations and what the LAFD budget numbers reveal.

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On Jan. 7, 2025, the Palisades and Eaton fires began ravaging the Los Angeles area. A day later, conservative commentator Megyn Kelly lambasted L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and L.A. Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley, accusing them of mishandling the crisis. Kelly criticized Bass for being absent, as Bass was on a diplomatic trip in Ghana when the fires erupted. Kelly also targeted Crowley, questioning her priorities as the first openly gay and woman fire chief, suggesting that her focus on diversity over firefighting put the city in jeopardy.

Many conservatives joined the chorus, including Elon Musk, who tweeted, “DEI means people DIE,” framing the mayor and fire chief’s identities — Bass as a Black woman and Crowley as a lesbian — as liabilities in the crisis.

Instead of uniting in the face of national criticism and their wildfire response, Bass and Crowley’s relationship quickly devolved into a very public clash that became its own spectacle.

The rift unfolds

The Palisades Fire is the biggest fire that erupted in January within L.A. city limits and under the purview of both the mayor and fire chief.

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The first sign of discord between the two leaders came when Crowley appeared on Fox 11 News. She publicly criticized the funding of the L.A. Fire Department (LAFD), stating that it was “understaffed, under-resourced, and underfunded.”

Each year, the mayor submits an overall budget proposal to the L.A. City Council, which then reviews, amends and ultimately approves the spending plan. So Crowley making this kind of statement was seen as a bold move during a crisis, directing blame at the mayor’s office for failing to provide adequate resources.

It was also in direct conflict with statements Bass made at a news conference about the fires upon her return from Ghana. The mayor said the city had approved a contract with the firefighters union to raise their salaries, which overall increased the money spent on the fire department.

“There was a little bit of confusion because money was allocated to be distributed later on, which was actually going to support salaries and other parts of the Fire Department,” Bass said at the conference.

The two leaders disagreed on whether the department was receiving enough resources, and the issue quickly became a point of contention.

The budget debate

L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia, who oversees the city’s finances, weighed in online after hearing Bass’ and Crowley’s conflicting comments about the LAFD budget.

“I would see everyday Chief Crowley on the news. And then I would see city officials go on the press and flat out gaslight her,” Mejia said on his instagram page.

He later told LAist’s podcast Imperfect Paradise, “we saw other city officials basically saying that there wasn't a budget cut and that's when I decided to step in.”

He said that, contrary to the mayor’s statement, the Fire Department’s budget had been cut by $17.6 million in 2024, and the LAFD went from 415 fire-civilian regular positions to 357.

While the mayor’s office has previously said that overall funding for the LAFD had increased, Mejia said the additional funds didn’t address key issues, such as fleet maintenance or staffing shortages, which likely had an effect on the operational power of the Fire Department.

LAist asked Bass’ office for clarification about this; it said the LAFD budget increase does include “funding for vehicles and equipment.”

Frank Stoltze, LAist’s civics and democracy correspondent, also found that the LAFD has long been underfunded, with one of the smallest big city fire departments in the country. Part of the Fire Department’s staffing issues date back to the 2008 recession, when resources were slashed.

Crowley had called for a larger budget for the LAFD for years. The mayor's office said Bass “believes the department needs more funding in order to increase their resources,” in an emailed response to LAist. But the calls for increased LAFD funding come as the city faces a $1-billion budget deficit.

“You know, it's not just unique to fire. A majority of departments got their operating budget slashed, including mine,” Mejia said.

The Palisades Fire and its aftermath: “Mother Nature owned us”

Despite these budgetary issues, some fire experts argued that additional resources wouldn’t have altered the outcome of the Palisades Fire. In an interview with Imperfect Paradise, Orange County Fire Chief Brian Fennessy, whose crews helped the LAFD, said, “When you bring something like steady winds of 50 to 60 with gusts 80 to 100 [miles per hour], that's not stoppable. Mother Nature owned us.”

Bass ultimately fired Crowley on Feb. 21, citing her failure to pre-deploy resources ahead of the Palisades Fire and communicate effectively with the mayor’s office.

In a rare move, Crowley appealed her dismissal in front of the City Council, denying the mayor’s accusations and arguing that the LAFD’s issues went far beyond her control. Crowley also pointed to budget cuts and equipment shortages as key factors in the department’s inability to respond effectively. On March 4, the City Council denied Crowley’s appeal to be reinstated as LAFD chief.

Burned trust: the bigger picture

While Bass’ and Crowley’s actions were called into question during the crisis, there is no definitive evidence that their decisions had a substantial effect on the wildfire’s devastation. However, their public fallout may have lasting consequences for their careers — it’s already cut short Crowley’s term as LAFD chief.

The Palisades Fire exposed some deep, long standing issues: the L.A. Fire Department is chronically underfunded, and the city continues to build in fire-prone areas, all while climate change exacerbates the risks.

They’re the kinds of problems that Crowley and Bass may have been able to solve together. But instead, they found themselves at odds.

We reached out to Crowley and Bass several times for comment and for interviews for this episode of Imperfect Paradise. We heard back from Bass’ office, but Crowley did not respond to our requests by our deadline. Also, neither Crowley, nor Bass agreed to a sit down for an interview on Imperfect Paradise.

Hear the full episode on Imperfect Paradise below.

Listen 36:13

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Amid the devastating Palisades and Eaton Fires that killed more than two dozen people, a political conflict came sharply into focus surrounding the funding of the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD). Finger-pointing as to who was to blame included former LA Fire Chief Kristin Crowley and LA Mayor Karen Bass. The two women would be lambasted for their handling of one of the most destructive natural disasters in Southern California history. But instead of coming together to fend off attacks and manage the fire response, Bass and Crowley ended up engaging in a very public feud. We look back at each side's accusations, the funding of the LAFD, the political futility of blame, and what it might tell us about preventing future wildfires in Los Angeles.

The fallout over LAFD funding: Bass vs. Crowley

Amid the devastating Palisades and Eaton Fires that killed more than two dozen people, a political conflict came sharply into focus surrounding the funding of the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD). Finger-pointing as to who was to blame included former LA Fire Chief Kristin Crowley and LA Mayor Karen Bass. The two women would be lambasted for their handling of one of the most destructive natural disasters in Southern California history. But instead of coming together to fend off attacks and manage the fire response, Bass and Crowley ended up engaging in a very public feud. We look back at each side's accusations, the funding of the LAFD, the political futility of blame, and what it might tell us about preventing future wildfires in Los Angeles.

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