Six weeks after the most destructive wildfire in city history, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass ousted the city’s fire chief Friday amid a public rift over preparations for a potential fire and finger-pointing between the chief and City Hall over responsibility for the devastation.
Bass said that she is removing Chief Kristin Crowley immediately.
Bass said that she is removing Chief Kristin Crowley immediately.
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00:00Acting in the best interest of Los Angeles public safety and for the operations of the Los Angeles Fire Department,
00:07I just met with Chief Crowley and removed her as Fire Chief.
00:12I have appointed a 41-year veteran of the Fire Department, former Chief Deputy Ronald Villanueva, as Interim Fire Chief.
00:21He is respected and ready to hit the ground running.
00:24So let me be clear, our firefighters acted heroically during the Palisades Fire and they act heroically every single day.
00:34That is without question.
00:36Bringing new leadership to the Fire Department is what they and the people of Los Angeles deserve.
00:42As you know, I have called for a full investigation of everything leading up to January 7th.
00:49A necessary step to the investigation was the President of the Fire Commission telling Chief Crowley to do an after-action report on the fires.
00:59The Fire Chief refused.
01:02We all know that a thousand firefighters that could have been on duty on the morning the fires broke were instead sent home on Chief Crowley's watch.
01:13These actions required her removal.
01:16While the Department is in the experienced and expert hands of Chief Villanueva,
01:23my office will lead a national search and I will speak directly with firefighters and Angelenos about what they want to see in the next Fire Chief.
01:33I will use a similar process as I did in searching for our Police Chief.
01:38The business of the Fire Department and the city will continue.
01:43Our heroic firefighters are on the job in our firehouses, engines, trucks and ambulances.
01:50What I can tell you is is that what has happened in the two plus years I've been here,
01:55every time there was a weather emergency or even a hint of a weather emergency,
02:00the Chief has called me directly.
02:02She has my cell phone.
02:04She knows she can call me 24-7 and she briefed me and then we would talk about what needed to happen next.
02:10That did not happen this time.