Legal/Law/Criminal Justice and Reform

Karen Bass Just Got Sued By Fire Chief She Canned Over LA Wildfire Response

Mayor Karen Bass [Screenshot/Sky News]

Former Chief Kristin Crowley of the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) is suing Democratic Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles over her termination, CBS Los Angeles reported Wednesday.

Bass fired Crowley as fire chief in February following the deadly Palisades fires that left at least 27 people dead and destroyed thousands of buildings. CBS Los Angeles investigative reporter Ross Palombo reported that Crowley accused Bass of defamation and retaliation in the complaint.

“Here’s the lawsuit, the former LAFD Fire Chief Kristin Crowley has just filed a claim against the city of Los Angeles and against the mayor,” Palombo said. “All of this stemming from retaliation she believes from when she disclosed early on after the Palisades fire, you remember on January 7th, she said right away that there were dramatic cuts to the fire budgets, totally nearly 18 million dollars and if you were watching our coverage, you certainly saw that there was a lot of back and forth between her and the mayor whether that in fact was the case.”

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“So now, Kristin Crowley has filed this claim saying that she was retaliated against in that the mayor and the city made false statements, mainly that the former chief refused to conduct an after-action report. She says that is simply false,” Palombo continued. “The chief was accused of sending home 1,000 firefighters, she says that is false as well. There were forty idle fire engines during the fire that may have been used, that was put out by the city. Crowley says that is false as well, and she also claims that the mayor said that she had not notified the city about the weather event that was happening. She says that is false as well. Now, with this claim, she wants an immediate retraction of all false and defamatory statements, a formal and public apology to her from the mayor and an end to all of this ongoing retaliation.”

A number of LAFD battalion chiefs called for Crowley’s resignation in a January letter obtained by NewsNation. The city under Bass cut the LAFD’s budget by nearly $20 million, with the bulk of the cuts hitting the department’s operational supplies, but later restored the funds to the LAFD budget after negotiations with the fire union in November 2024.

Los Angeles officials came under fire over LAFD’s pursuit of a “racial equity plan” during Crowley’s tenure as chief. Her biography touted her as “the first female and LGBTQ Fire Chief” in the agency’s history.

Bass didn’t immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.