Cristian Crowley has been the LA Fire Chief for the Los Angeles Fire department from March 2022 to February 2025, and as of late February 2025 she was officially fired by Mayor Bass. She was the first woman and openly gay person to lead the fire department.
Crowley led the operation and responded to the events of January 2025 Southern California’s wildfires. The L.A wildfires caused 16,000 houses, schools and businesses to be destroyed and over 150,000 people to flee their homes. During these wildfires Chief Crowley was in charge of situating these fires.
Mayor Bass had stated that the fires could have been contained sooner if not for the actions of fire chief Crowley.
ABC News stated “We know that 1,000 firefighters that could have been on duty on the morning the fires broke out were instead sent home on Chief Crowley’s watch,” the mayor said in a statement.”
Mayor Bass believes that the January 2025 L.A wildfires could have been prevented to the extent it grew if Chief Crowley had not sent the firefighters home needed to contain the wildfires the morning they broke out.
Mayor Bass later stated that when she caught wind of Chief Crowley’s order she was fired immediately.
Many people were shocked to hear of Chief Crowley removal effective immediately and Mayor Bass had later stated that she refused to follow orders by president Chief commissioner.
“Crowley’s failure to do “an after action report on the fires” after being told to do so by the president of the Fire Commission. ” said the Mayor Bass.
“After Action Report” (AAR) is a review of a fire or emergency disaster to analyze response action, evaluate effectiveness, and identify areas for improvements.
However, due to meeting with Mayor Bass and former Fire Chief Crowley, she has decided to opt to stay at the department by being demoted to a lower rank civil service rule intended to isolate jobs from political loyalty and reward skills.
On Saturday February 22, 2025 Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez of L.A.’s northeastern communities that were affected by the Hurst fire had made a facebook post stating “I am outraged by the scapegoating revealed by the Mayor’s actions. I plan to use my authority as a Councilmember to set the record straight and encourage Chief Crowley to appeal the Mayor’s baseless termination to the City Council.”
On Tuesday March 4, 2025 Crowley made her case to the LA city council for why she believes her firing was unwarranted, to which the council voted 13-2 to reject the proposal and back Bass’s decision.
Unfortunately, former Fire Chief Crowley will not be reinstated and has stated “The truth is that the Fire Chief should not be prevented from, or punished for speaking openly and honestly about the needs and capabilities of the LAFD, or for doing her best to protect our firefighters and our communities.”
After walking out of her hearing former Fire Chief Crowley has stated to the public, “As the Former Fire Chief, I based my actions and decisions on taking care of our firefighters so that they could take care of our communities, … serving others before self, having the courage and integrity to do what is right, and leading with compassion, love and respect have guided me throughout my career. I am extremely proud of the work, sacrifice and dedication of our LAFD members, both sworn and civilian.”
Written by Casandra Aguilar, Staff Writer