Mayor Bass Did Not Fire the Fire Chief

Mayor Karen Bass reportedly fired Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley on Friday afternoon, and Chief Crowley expected Bass to fire her. Bass probably read her the riot act, but who knows?

Fire Rescue said she was not fired.

Chief Crowley told a reporter that the mayor failed the fire department in her Friday comments that angered Mayor Bass. Bass wanted a $50 million cut on top of the $17.5 million she already cut.

Bass Has Courage

“My message is the fire department needs to be properly funded,” the Chief said. “It’s not.”

“Did they fail you?” Fox LA’s Gigi Graciette asked. ‘Yes,’ Crowley replied.

On Friday, Crowley took a more confrontational stance, using her media appearances to hammer home the idea that her department had gone with too little for too long.

“We can no longer sustain where we are. We do not have enough firefighters,” she told anchor Jake Tapper on CNN.

Crowley told Tapper that she has too few mechanics to repair broken-down vehicles. At one point, Tapper asked if budget cuts have hurt her agency’s ability to fight the fires.

“I want to be very, very clear. Yes. We took a $17-million budget cut,” she responded. “And as we know, any budget cut would negatively affect our ability to carry out our mission.”

Bass spokesperson Zach Seidl said that was not true. The Fire Department said that Bass and Crowley’s “foremost priorities continue to be fighting the current wildfires and safeguarding Angelenos.”

“It is important to note that the Fire Chief was not dismissed and is in full command of the LAFD,” said the statement, posted by spokesperson Erik Scott on X.

At least Bass wasn’t dumb enough to fire the Chief, especially during a crisis. There are calls to fire Mayor Bass. That would be a good start, but California doesn’t fire incompetent people. They promote them.

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