LA mayor removes fire chief amid tensions over deadly wildfires

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) has removed the city’s fire chief, Kristin Crowley, amid ongoing tensions over the handling of and response to the region’s deadly January wildfires. 

Crowley was removed effective immediately Friday, as Bass argued that the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) needs “new leadership.” 

“Acting in the best interests of Los Angeles’ public safety, and for the operations of the Los Angeles Fire Department, I have removed Kristin Crowley as Fire Chief,” Bass said in a statement Friday. 

“We know that 1,000 firefighters that could have been on duty on the morning the fires broke out were instead sent home on Chief Crowley’s watch,” the mayor added. “Furthermore, a necessary step to an investigation was the President of the Fire Commission telling Chief Crowley to do an after-action report on the fires. The Chief refused. These require her removal.”  

Bass added that the “heroism of our firefighters — during the Palisades fire and every single day — is without question.”  

Former LAFD Chief Deputy Ronnie Villanueva, a 41-year department veteran, was named interim fire chief, according to Bass. 

The Los Angeles mayor said while the LAFD is “in the experienced and expert hands of Chief Villanueva,” her office will begin a national search and “will speak directly with firefighters and Angelenos about what they want to see in their next permanent Chief.” 

Crowley said during an interview in January that in fact the city failed her department. At the time, the blazes had burned more than 37,000 acres of land and killed 11 people. Crowley was referring to the Santa Ynez Reservoir, which was empty and shut down. 

The wildfires, which were accelerated by strong Santa Ana winds, began on Jan. 7. They have killed at least 29 people. 

The Palisades Fire, the biggest one, burned more than 23,000 acres and destroyed more than 6,800 structures, while the Eaton Fire, which began in Altadena, burned more than 14,000 acres and ransacked more than 9,000 structures, CalFire said. Both blazes were fully contained on Jan. 31. 

Bass was heavily scrutinized for traveling to Africa as part of a U.S. delegation on the day the fires ignited. This week, she admitted during an interview that was a “mistake.”

“Obviously, I hated the fact that I was out of the city when the city needed me the most,” Bass said Tuesday. “And frankly, when my family needed me the most — because I was impacted, my family was impacted by the fires as well. It is a horrible feeling to know that it took a long time to come back because of how far away I was.”

The mayor also got blowback for $17.8 million in budget cuts to the city’s fire department but has rejected claims that it impacted the efforts to combat the fires. 

Crowley was appointed as the LAFD chief in 2022. She worked for the department for more than 25 years.