LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former fire chief in Los Angeles has taken legal action against the city, claiming her termination was part of a calculated campaign to damage her reputation so Mayor Karen Bass could dodge responsibility for the city’s most catastrophic wildfire.
Kristin Crowley was terminated by Bass one month following the January 2025 Palisades Fire, with her removal sparking a blame game between the former chief and city officials regarding the fire’s destruction and department funding issues. Crowley’s attempt to regain her position through a City Council appeal failed in March of that year.
The legal action filed by Crowley last week claims Bass deliberately spread false information to shield the mayor’s political standing after the disaster. Neither the mayor’s office nor the LA City Attorney’s office provided immediate responses to requests for comment regarding the lawsuit.
According to Crowley, the first-term Democratic mayor attempted to deflect criticism over her absence in Africa on a presidential delegation when the fire erupted, despite weather forecasts predicting hazardous wildfire conditions before her departure.
The lawsuit claims Bass made misleading public statements, “including falsely claiming that she was not aware of the nationally anticipated weather event, falsely claiming that the LAFD’s budget was not cut, and falsely claiming that LAFD’s resources would have supported an additional 1,000 firefighters to fight the blaze.”
“These false statements were not mistakes but part of a deliberate strategy to divert scrutiny from Bass’ decisions and to avoid accountability,” the legal document states.
The former chief is requesting unspecified financial and compensatory damages in her filing.
Bass dismissed Crowley on February 21, 2025, six weeks following the start of the Los Angeles fire. While initially commending Crowley during early firefighting operations, Bass later stated she discovered that 1,000 additional firefighters could have been mobilized when the fire began. The mayor also claimed Crowley refused to compile a fire report essential for investigating the incident.
Crowley’s legal document challenges both of these assertions.
The Palisades Fire ignited on January 7 amid powerful winds, destroying or damaging close to 8,000 residential, commercial and other structures while claiming at least 12 lives in the upscale Pacific Palisades neighborhood. A separate fire that began the same day in Altadena, located east of Los Angeles, resulted in at least 17 fatalities and destroyed or damaged over 10,000 homes and buildings.
