Critics of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass pounced on her decision Friday to dismiss the city’s fire chief over her handling of the devastating wildfires that killed at least 29 people and scorched thousands of structures.
Bass said Friday it was “in the best interests of Los Angeles’ public safety” to remove Kristin Crowley as fire chief. The announcement ended weeks of speculation surrounding Crowley’s fate amid growing tension between the mayor’s office and the fire department head.
“1,000 firefighters were sent home on Chief Crowley’s watch the day the fires broke out,” Bass said in a statement. “Chief Crowley refused to do an after action report on the fires. These require her removal.”
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But not all were immediately convinced that the mayor had arrived at the right decision.
“LA Mayor Karen Bass has fired the LAFD Chief effective immediately,” author Kira Davis told her followers on X. "This isn’t going to work @MayorOfLA. You can’t escape accountability this time. Fire yourself. Ya cooked.”
“LA Mayor Karen Bass says the ‘buck stops’ with her moments after she completely threw Fire Chief Kristin Crowley under the bus,” Collin Rugg, co-owner of Trending Politics, wrote on X. “LA deserves better than this clown.”
Billionaire developer Rick Caruso, who Bass defeated for the mayoral post in 2022, called the decision “very disappointing” and added it was Bass who decided “to ignore the warnings and leave the city.”
“Chief Crowley served Los Angeles well and spoke honestly about the severe and profoundly ill-conceived budget cuts the Bass administration made to the LAFD," Caruso wrote on X. "That courage to speak the truth was brave, and I admire her. We need real leadership, not more blame passing."
With Crowley's departure, officials will launch a national search for her replacement, the mayor’s office said. In the meantime, former Chief Deputy Ronnie Villanueva, a 41-year fire department veteran, will serve as the city’s interim fire chief.