Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) Chief Christine Crowley, the first openly gay woman to do so, is facing calls to resign as devastating wildfires rage across Southern California.
Mr. Crowley found himself in an awkward situation with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D). received request resign after her said The city “ignored” city officials' requests and claimed budget cuts had “limited” its ability to respond to “large-scale events.”
The fire chief, who was appointed by then-Mayor Eric Garcetti (D) in 2022, has since “disappeared” from the scene of the fire. secret room meeting Last Friday, he was in Bass's office “so long that I was unable to attend the evening news conference,” he said. new york times Reported.
Source close to the situation said of daily mail The mayor called Mr. Crowley into his office to fire him, but he said, “Whatever happened in that meeting, I've changed my mind.”
“[Crowley] “She was told the purpose of the meeting was to get her fired, so she said goodbye to everyone and went to the meeting,” a source told the British press.
By the next morning, times reported that the mayor and the mayor were “presenting a united front, although tensions were obvious.''
The mayor, who also took office in 2022, said, “The mayor and I are in lockstep.'' “And we will continue to address any differences between us privately.”
Firefighters are still working hard erase The wildfire has burned about 40,000 acres and has killed at least 27 people since it started on January 7, according to NBC News.
The drama intensified when active and retired LAFD battalion chiefs and administrators appeared. I wrote A scathing letter calling on Crowley to resign:
A coalition of anonymous current and former local fire officials argued that Crowley's comments that the city had “failed” his department were “ill-advised” and “badly timed.” , and more importantly, the mayor's trust.” Lost the trust of many LAFD chief executives. ”
According to NewsNation, the group also claimed in the letter that the controversial director knew about LAFD's budget problems before he took office, but “agreed” to cut the budget.
Another large part of the criticism was directed at department leaders. stem from the facts About 1,000 firefighters were “not on hand” as strong winds swept through Los Angeles, picking up embers and causing the blaze to spread rapidly, the California Globe reported.
The paper also noted that no additional fire engines had been deployed in advance to the Pacific Palisades area, where the first major fire broke out last Tuesday.
“Having a significant number of firefighters and equipment close to the fire zone during periods of high wildfire risk has long been an important strategy for the department,” said former LAFD Deputy Chief and current Redondo. Beach Fire Chief Patrick Butler said.
“Aside from extreme incompetence and a lack of understanding of firefighting, I cannot understand how this could have happened,” he said.
Manny Rodriguez, a Los Angeles County pollster, told the Globe that he does not see a scenario in which Crowley and Bass are “still in office by the end of 2025.”
