Current, Former Los Angeles Fire Officials Call For Chief’s Resignation In Unsigned Letter
Current and former officials with the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) are calling for LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley to resign immediately.
In a 5-page letter that includes no signatures, several current and former chief officers – which includes battalion chiefs, assistant chiefs, and deputy chiefs – blamed Crowley for the poor response to the California wildfires, NewsNation reported.
“Chief, please focus on your current duties and responsibilities which currently should be focused on mitigating and stabilizing the Palisades fire,” the officials wrote in a letter obtained by NewsNation’s Rich McHugh. “Your outburst regarding the budget and the statement that the ‘City failed the LAFD’ was ill-advised, poorly timed and took away from the most important issue, the Palisades fire.”
The letter is referring to Crowley’s comments on January 10, when she told reporters that city officials failed her department. Crowley also wrote a memo to L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, on December 4, 2024, arguing that Bass’ nearly $18 million in cuts to the fire department “severely limited the department’s capacity to prepare for, train for, and respond to large-scale emergencies, including wildfires.”
“Without this funding, pilot compliance and readiness are jeopardized, and aerial firefighting capabilities are diminished,” Crowley added.
The fire officials who now demand Crowley’s resignation claim she had “been aware of the budget issues of the LAFD prior to your appointment as Fire Chief [in March 2022],” yet she only now complains about those issues.
“Please do not be disingenuous as we know better,” the officials wrote. “You went along with the budget cuts and now that they have come back to haunt you, you appear to be in [cover your a**] mode.”
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The officials then lay out 11 things they say have occurred under Crowley’s watch, including a lack of mechanics and updated equipment. The officials also complain about “lawsuits filed by females, minorities and command officers related to retaliation, harassment and hostile work environment issues.” When Crowley was appointed in 2022, she promised to focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), but such focus often leads to the very same lawsuits the officials now complain about. The DEI priorities could also lead to positions being filled without sufficient merit, potentially making the fire department less prepared to fight fires.
Without acknowledging the role that DEI has played in the lawsuits, the officials who called for Crowley’s resignation also pointed to the promotion of Kristine Larson to deputy chief, “despite [Crowley] knowing about her lack of professionalism and lack of emotional intelligence. The officials then cite Larson’s statement that if a man needed her to carry him out of a fire, “he got himself in the wrong place.”
NewsNation reported that around 100 current and former fire officials have received the letter, including Crowley. John Knox, a veteran fire official who was fired after refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine, told NewsNation that the current situation involving the wildfires is a “complete and utter lack of leadership.” He also blamed the lack of preparations on Crowley.
A spokesman with the LAFD wrote in an email on Thursday that Crowley was unable to respond to the letter as she is “focused on mitigating the fires,” The New York Times reported.