Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has removed Kristin Crowley as the city’s fire chief and has appointed former Chief Deputy Ronnie Villanueva to serve as interim chief.
Bass’ administration has maintained that cuts to areas of the fire department’s budget did not impact firefighters’ ability to respond to the fires, despite comments from Crowley that suggest otherwise. The fire chief recently lashed out against city officials, saying the city “failed” her and her department.
The mayor and her office have been inundated with questions since the first fire broke out — everything from whether Bass regretted her trip to Ghana and if she should apologize to Angelenos for being away to whether the city cut the fire department’s budget and left it ill-equipped to battle the flames to whether city officials failed to ensure that L.A. had enough water to respond to massive fires.
Bass said in a statement she is removing the chief immediately
Bass said 1,000 firefighters could have been on duty the morning the fires broke out but “were instead sent home on Chief Crowley’s watch.”
“Furthermore, a necessary step to an investigation was the president of the Fire Commission telling Chief Crowley to do an after action report on the fires,” she added. “The Chief (Crowley) refused. These require her removal.”
Bass was scheduled to hold a late-morning news conference to discuss her decision.
In her announcement, the mayor said she fired Crowley “in the best interests” of L.A.’s public safety and the operations of the L.A. Fire Department.
She added that bringing new leadership to the Fire Department is what “our city needs.”
Villanueva is expected to lead the LAFD while the mayor’s office leads a national search and engages with residents to what they’d like in their next fire chief.
The interim chief retired seven months ago, but he is ready to hit the ground running, according to Bass’ office.
Villanueva retired from the Fire Department as chief deputy of emergency operations, and has decades of experience in fire suppression, emergency management, and the management of thousands of operational and support members of the LAFD in various positions at the department.
Before becoming a chief officer, Villanueva spent 24 years in the field at active assignments.
Developer Rick Caruso, whom Bass defeated in the 2022 race for mayor, responded swiftly.
“It is very disappointing that Mayor Bass has decided to fire Chief Kristin Crowley,” Caruso said in a statement. “Chief Crowley served Los Angeles well and spoke honestly about the severe and profoundly ill-conceived budget cuts the Bass administration made to the LAFD. That courage to speak the truth was brave, and I admire her. Honesty in a high city official should not be a firing offense. The mayor’s decision to ignore the warnings and leave the city was hers alone. This is a time for city leaders to take responsibility for their actions and their decisions. We need real leadership, not more blame passing.”
This is a breaking news story; watch for updates
City News Service and the Associated Press contributed to this report
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