Kristin Crowley, chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department, was fired by Mayor Karen Bass on Friday afternoon, a source close to the chief’s office told DailyMail.com.
“Kristin was summoned by Bass this afternoon around 4 p.m. She returned from that meeting, hugged her staff goodbye and left. She said she was fired,” the source said.
The alleged ramp-up comes after Crowley lashed out against the mayor’s budget cuts to her department in an interview with a local Fox TV station around noon Friday.
“My message is that the fire department needs to be properly funded,” the chief said. “It’s not that.”
“Did they abandon you?” Fox LAs Gigi Graciette asked. “Yes,” Crowley replied.
The LAFD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hours earlier, Chief Crowley filed a scathing indictment of Mayor Bass’ administration, exposing a funding, staffing and preparedness crisis that she said left her department ill-equipped to deal with the catastrophe.
Chief Crowley issued a swift rebuke to the city council, raising questions about its preparedness in light of the most devastating fire season in LA history, which has displaced more than 100,000 residents.
Kristin Crowley, chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department, was fired by Mayor Karen Bass on Friday afternoon, a source close to the chief’s office told DailyMail.com, hours after giving a candid interview to Fox LA.
Crowley acknowledged to a reporter that the city, and by extension Mayor Karen Bass, pictured, failed its residents during the wildfires
In an extraordinary public airing of grievances, Crowley acknowledged to a reporter KTV that the city, and by extension Mayor Bass, abandoned its residents during the wildfires.
When pressed several times if the city had failed, Crowley’s response was a firm, “Yes.”
The stark admission sent shockwaves through the city, as Crowley detailed the dire state of her department.
Years of budget cuts, she said, had left the LAFD suffering crippling staff shortages, outdated equipment and insufficient resources; issues that she said had been repeatedly brought to the city’s attention.
“Since day one, we have identified huge gaps in our service delivery and our ability for our fire boots on the ground to do their job,” Crowley said.
“This is my third budget as we move into the 2025-2026 period, and what I can tell you is that we are still understaffed, we are still under-resourced and we are still under-funded.”
Crowley painted a grim picture of the department’s daily operations, revealing that under normal circumstances, firefighters handle more than 1,500 calls and transport 650 patients every day. The wildfires have only exacerbated these problems.
“We are crying out for adequate funding to ensure our firefighters can do their jobs so we can serve the community,” Crowley said.
Cars are left charred at a dealership Friday in the aftermath of the Eaton fire
‘This is not a new problem. It’s been a problem for years. And it’s time for it to be fixed.”
Despite its repeated warnings and detailed memos outlining the department’s needs, the city has cut the LAFD’s budget by more than $17 million in recent years.
The result, Crowley said, was predictable: slower response times and a reduced ability to fight the increasing frequency and intensity of fires.
“Any cuts will impact our ability to provide service,” she explained. ‘If there were cuts, we had to source from somewhere else. What does that mean? That doesn’t happen or there are delays.’
Crowley’s criticism extends beyond the immediate crisis and points to a systemic failure to scale firefighting capabilities alongside the city’s explosive growth.
“We know we need 62 new fire stations. We need to double the size of our firefighters,” she said. “The growth of this city has doubled since 1960 and we have fewer fire stations.”
The fire chief called out city officials for ignoring “real data” that supported the fire department’s repeated requests for more funding.
“When you’re talking about sounding the alarm and requesting and requesting budgets that are easily justified based on the data, real data shows what the fire service needs to serve this beautiful city and the beautiful community we serve swore we would. That’s what it’s all about.’
Crowley’s comments were not only a criticism, but also a heartfelt plea for immediate and sustained action.
Stressing the non-political nature of her role, she said: “None of us in the fire service are politicians. We are civil servants first and foremost. We took an oath to serve the public, before ourselves and even before our families.
“What our people need to do their jobs is to make sure we can save lives and protect property as best we can,” Crowley said. “But we need to be funded properly. And that’s where my head is.’
Bass has yet to respond to Crowley’s blistering criticism, but the consequences are already clear.
Accusations of negligence and a failure to prioritize public safety have fueled growing discontent among residents, many of whom are reeling from the devastation caused by the wildfires.