Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has replaced the city’s fire chief Kristin Crowley, accusing her of mishandling the response to last month’s disastrous wildfires.
Bass claimed Kristin Crowley had failed to notify her of an impending fire risk.
“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,” according to a statement released by the mayor.
Bass has selected Ronnie Villanueva, a LAFD veteran, as interim fire chief. The wildfires killed 26 lives, burned thousands of homes, and displaced more than 150,000 people.
Kristin Crowley became the department’s first female fire chief when she was appointed in 2022.
During her tenure, she prioritized firefighter recruitment, diversity initiatives, and modernizing outdated department policies.
However, her leadership faced controversy, particularly regarding staffing shortages during the recent wildfires.
A letter from current and retired LAFD chief officers accused her of mismanaging the wildfire response, highlighting issues such as inadequate evacuation plans and insufficient firefighting resources.
They demanded her resignation, saying that “a large number of chief officers do not believe you are up to the task.”
Crowley has also received criticism for her emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives within the department.
Her critics argued that this emphasis diverted attention from essential firefighting operations, potentially undermining the department’s effectiveness during crises.
