Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass expelled fire chief Christine Crowley on Friday over handling the Palisade fire, adding confusion that enveloped city hall.
Bass took that step after publicly bolstering recent criticism of Crowley, complaining that he hadn’t heard from the chief until the fire broke out, and also questioned the Chief’s decision to roll out.
“We know that 1,000 firefighters who may have been working in the morning had a fire attack on Crawley,” the bus said in a statement Friday that announced the shooting of Crawley. I’ve said that.
The mayor also alleged that the chief refused to participate in a later action report on the fire after being asked by the bus appointee Fire Committee, Genetia Hadley Hayes, to do so.
A Times investigation found that LAFD officials chose not to order around 1,000 firefighters to work for the second shift when the wind was built.
Firefighters staffed five of the more than 40 engines available to help fight wildfires.
At another time, it was discovered that the LAFD may have sent at least 10 additional engines to the Palisade prior to the fire. This could have been patrols along hillsides and canyons, and could put out the fire when they were still young.
Crawley did not immediately respond to requests for comment on her firing. LAFD spokesman Erik Scott said the department was “aware of the mayor’s announcement,” and said “there was no further comment or interviews on the issue at this time.”
LAFD veteran Ronnieva will serve as interim chief. According to the mayor’s office, he retired in the department as head of the emergency business 41 years later.
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Crawley’s firing immediately caused a backlash from the firefighters’ union. The leader supported her last month when she spoke about her needing more urban resources.
“Crowley becomes a scapegoat and she’s finished by telling the truth,” said Freddie Escobar, United Firefighter at Los Angeles City Local 112.
Escobar challenged the rationale for the bus to launch Crowley, saying an external investigation into the fire was already underway. He also claimed that the department lacked sufficient trucks and engines for the 1,000 firefighters sent home before the fire began.
However, several former LAFD chief executives told the Times that by keeping firefighters on duty, the department could send dozens of extra engines to Pallisard and other high-risk areas. Ta. Firefighters who are not assigned to additional engines will also be available for other tasks.
Councillor Monica Rodriguez, whose districts in the northeastern San Fernando Valley have experienced major hillside fires in recent years, also denounced the bass decision. She said she plans to use her authority as councillor to “set the record straight” while trying to overturn Crowley’s firing through a council vote.
Such a strategy is a very sudden challenge, requiring a two-thirds majority in a 15-member council, but not impossible.
Rodriguez accused Bass of eliminating Crowley to deflect criticism that he was in Ghana when the fire exploded, destroying nearly 7,000 homes and other structures, killing at least 12.
“On January 7th, she praised the fire chief and her reaction,” Rodriguez said in an interview. “And when the heat begins, it appears [over] For her absence, she continued to hold someone else responsible. ”
Rodriguez, the mayor’s council’s most vocal critic, said the public deserves a “full explanation of all the leadership failures that have occurred.”
Crowley’s expulsion, which comes six weeks after Pallisard fires, adds to the chaos that has shaken the city hall, particularly the mayor’s administration. Bass faces questions about the city’s preparation for the hurricane winds and the accompanying wildfires, as well as managing her crisis.
Over the past few weeks, Bass has developed a tense relationship with her recovery emperor Steve Soborov and county supervisor Lindsey Hovas, which includes disabled people from the Pacific. Bass reversed the course with plans to reopen Palisade in the Pacific, following opposition from Traci Park, a councillor representing Palisade. And she supported her plan to use funds from charity to pay $500,000 for a 90-day job. Soboroff is currently working for free.
The tension between Bass and Crowley dates back to the first day after the fire broke out.
On January 10, while the flames were still out of control, Crawley gave an extraordinary television interview, with reporters from Fox 11, and her boss Bass failed to do so with her and her department. I told him that.
She continued to describe her agency as understaffed and underfunded, calling the situation “no longer sustainable.”
Later that day, Crawley had similarly strong words to CNN’s JakTapper, so he told him the fire department didn’t have enough mechanisms to repair a broken emergency vehicle.
When Tupper asked whether the city’s budget cuts would affect her agency’s ability to fight wildfires, she replied. “I want to be very clear. Yes.”
A few hours later, Crawley was summoned to the mayor’s office. The closure meeting lasted so long that Bass did not appear at her own late afternoon wildfire emergency press conference.
After that episode, Crowley and Bass continued to appear together at newspaper conferences, saying they were focusing on fire and recovery.
The mayor and her team then issued a series of statements to reporters this week. This suggested that Crawley did not tell the bus about the seriousness of the fire risk.
Bass spokesman Zach Seidl told The Times that Crowley routinely called mayors and teams ahead of tough weather events, but did not do so by January 7th.
Earlier this week, Bus said in two TV interviews that he had not received enough information about the weather. If she had, she would have cancelled her trip, she said.
After banishing the fire chief on Friday, Bass said during his two-year office Crowley called his cell phone every time he had “even hints for a weather emergency.” The mayor did not answer questions about his lack of realising the predictions of heavy winds that were widely broadcast before the fire exploded.
Crowley is expelled as Chief, but she continues to serve at the fire station. The mayor’s office did not respond immediately when asked to clarify the current role of the former mayor.
Mayor Eric Garcetti chose Crawley to lead the division in 2022. She was the first female chief in its history. She was promoted when female firefighters were speaking out about patterns of sexual harassment and haze in the department.
Rick Caruso, who fought Mayor Bass in 2022, has been a prominent antagonist since the fire, but mayor has said that he will eliminate Crawley by saying, “She is the only one who decides to leave town ignoring the warning.” He sharply criticized the decision.
It is unclear whether other councillors will gather behind Rodriguez’s efforts to overturn the mayor’s decision.
The city’s charter gives the mayor the authority to remove most department heads, such as the fire chief, without approval from the city council. However, the charter also gives Crawley the right to appeal the decision to the council within ten days of being removed. Crawley needs the assistance of 10 of his 15 councillors to annul the fire.
Bass, who appeared on Friday with four councillors standing behind her, expressed confidence that the legislative body would support her decision. She acknowledges differences among various civil servants, but she insisted that the city was “not turbulent.”
“We just experienced the worst natural disaster our city has ever experienced,” she said. “It’s great to think that everything will be smooth at every stage. But I don’t think it’s realistic. I think we’re standing together. We’re standing strong. I think so.”
Times staff writer Paul Pringle contributed to this report.
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