Christine Crowley has called for the termination of the Los Angeles City Council as LAFD’s chief after being fired from the position by Mayor Karen Bass almost a week ago.
Under the city’s charter, Crawley will need help in order for 10 of the 15 members of the council to revive as chiefs.
“Today, from the standpoint of the Fire Chief of the Los Angeles City Fire Department, Mayor Bus removed me on February 21, 2025, and has notified the City Council of appeals as provided for in Los Angeles Charter, Section 5, Section 5.08(e),” Crawley said in a statement.
The NBCLA contacted the Bass office for a response.
The bus announced Crawley’s shooting on Friday, more than a month after the fatal January wildfire in Los Angeles County. The firing was not discussed during Tuesday’s meeting and was not on the agenda, but some members of the council spoke about the mayor’s decision outside the council room.
“There’s a crisis in the city government that I have confidence in and I watch it with my constituents every day,” said the district’s Trustee Traci Park, which includes Pacific Palisades. “It was not well thought out and it caused a council division when we should focus on recovery.”
Under the city’s charter, Crowley can appeal to 15 city councils for her firing. Park called on her to do that, as did Monica Rodriguez, a council member for the San Fernando Valley.
“The council needs to consider why she was fired and what caused her,” Rodriguez said Tuesday.
The mayor’s office issued a statement later Friday, indicating that Crawley will remain in the department.
Councilman Markey Harris Dawson, who stood behind the mayor during the announcement Friday, said he supported her decision. Councillors Karen Price, Hugo Soto Martinez and Adlin Nazarian also had bass at City Hall press conferences.
NBC4’s Conan Nolan talks with investigative reporter Eric Leonard about the Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bus bomb, regarding the announcement that it launched LAFD chief Christine Crawley. Additionally, LA City Councilman Monica Rodriguez explains why she doesn’t support Crawley’s shooting.
In a phone interview with City News Service, Harris-Dawson said the firing was a “stricken and sad moment.”
“We’re councillors, so I don’t agree with everything,” Harris Dawson told CNS. “I was the person who encouraged the mayor to separate from the chief a few weeks ago.
“I couldn’t convince the mayor. There are other people who thought the mayor and the fire chief should stay indefinitely. There is definitely a difference of opinion based on where we sit at work.”
Councillor Bob Blumenfield expressed support for the bus move on Tuesday.
“The mayor needs to be confident in the fire chief and has the right to replace her if that confidence no longer exists,” Blumenfield said.
Bass cited leadership failures ahead of the January storm that instigated the Palisade and Eton fires.
The front and back of the mayor and chief began a few days after the fire began on January 7th, claiming that when the bus left for a trip abroad, Crawley did not warn her in advance about the strong winds that had fanned the Pallisard and Eton wildfires. Wind storms were widely anticipated and publicized when fires began in Pallisad and Altadena in the Pacific Ocean.
In a statement to NBC4 last week, LAFD said the department followed all standard preparatory procedures.
“Before the Palisades fire, LAFD emailed two separate media advisories, conducted multiple live and recorded media interviews on the expected extreme fire weather, and notified city officials of upcoming weather events,” the agency said.
Crowley criticized the city for budget cuts that he said was made difficult for firefighters to do their jobs at the time of disruption in the sector consumed by complaints of hayes, harassment and discrimination, which were promoted to Los Angeles fire chief in 2022 and ramping among the 3,400 ranks. Bass says budget cuts will not affect LAFD’s response to wildfires.
One of the complaints the mayor identified when he fired Crowley was that he refused to provide a late investigation requested by the city’s civil fire commission to respond to the fire.
Park said the chief wanted an investigation from outside the city hall.
“The fire department should not investigate itself,” Park said. “And not a city committee of political appointees should.”
Former Chief Roney Villa Nueva, a 1941 LAFD veteran, has been announced as interim fire chief.
Crawley has been with the LAFD for nearly 25 years and works through departmental ranks before gaining top job as firefighter, paramedic, engineer, fire investigator, captain, battalion commander, deputy chief, vice chief and chief vice chair.
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