Los Angeles Mayor Removes Fire Chief Over Alleged Lack of Preparation for Palisades Fire

Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley talks during a news conference at Harbor–UCLA Medical Center in the West Carson area of Los Angeles on Feb. 15, 2024. Richard Vogel/AP Photo

The mayor of Los Angeles said Feb. 21 that she removed the city’s fire chief because the chief had not prepared the department to fight fires when they broke out earlier this year.

Karen Bass, the mayor, said she removed Kristin Crowley effective immediately.

“I have called for a full investigation for everything leading up to Jan. 7,” Bass told reporters at a press conference. “A necessary step to the investigation was the president of the Fire Commission telling Chief Crowley to do an after-action report on the fires. The fire chief refused. We all know that a thousand firefighters [who] could have been on duty on the morning the fires broke were instead sent home on Chief Crowley’s watch. These actions required her removal.”

The mayor also said: “Our firefighters acted heroically during the Palisades fire and they act heroically every single day—that is without question. Bringing new leadership to the fire department is what they and the people of Los Angeles deserve.”

Starting on Jan. 7, a series of fires broke out in Los Angeles, causing immense destruction. The fires, which came to be known as the Palisades fire, were finally brought under control on Jan. 31.

The Los Angeles Fire Department, reached on Friday, declined to comment. The department also declined to provide contact information for Crowley, who has not appeared to react to the termination.

Crowley, who started with the department in 2007, became the Los Angeles fire chief in March 2022.

The Los Angeles Fire Department is one of the largest in the United States. The department has about 3,500 personnel, with some 1,000 firefighters always on duty, according to the department’s website.

Bass has elevated Ronnie Villanueva to interim fire chief.

“While the Department is in the experienced and expert hands of Chief Villanueva, my office will lead a national search and I will speak directly with firefighters and Angelenos about what they want to see in their next permanent chief,” Bass said in a statement.

Villanueva is a former chief deputy. He was a 41-year veteran of the city’s fire department when he retired in 2024.

Villanueva said at the briefing that he was humbled that the mayor has shown confidence in him.

“My pledge to the mayor, our firefighters, and the people of Los Angeles is that the Los Angeles city Fire Department will be prepared,” he said. “The Los Angeles city Fire Department will respond. And the Los Angeles city Fire Department will keep you safe.”