During an interview with ABC7 Los Angeles on Friday, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez said L.A. Mayor Karen Bass removing LAFD Fire Chief Kristin Crowley from her position is “deferring the responsibility to an individual that, frankly, was on the job when this incident occurred. And it’s infuriating to me that she would be made the scapegoat in all of this.” And said that Bass failed to ensure there were repairs to fire apparatus that wasn’t available during the fires.
Rodriguez said, “I was incredibly outraged upon learning about her dismissal. And Chief Crowley has been an incredible leader for the L.A. city Fire Department since her appointment. She is someone who has ascended the ranks, has accomplished — particularly for a woman in the fire service to have ascended and served in so many ranks, from paramedic, to fire marshal, to ultimately becoming the Chief of the L.A. city Fire Department, she really grew in the world-class department that we are so proud to have. And so, one of the things that really troubled me is this idea that she didn’t respond to the after-action report. That is standard protocol, and that, frankly, is not something that ever happens quickly, nor is it something that I’ve ever experienced in all of the incidents that Chief Crowley has been a part of, refused to participate in.”
She added, “So, I just feel like it has just been deferring the responsibility to an individual that, frankly, was on the job when this incident occurred. And it’s infuriating to me that she would be made the scapegoat in all of this. Because I’ve known nothing but Chief Crowley to be the consummate professional when it comes to the fire service.”
Rodriguez also responded to criticism of Crowley that she could have had more firefighters on duty, but didn’t, by stating that this “would have been derived from an after-action report, and, furthermore, I will say that apparatus — fire apparatus is paramount to be able to retain firefighters to be able to be deployed to incidents. Now, I will also say that it was back in the Fall that I spoke to Mayor Bass to release positions that were being withheld from the fire department for the mechanics and the sheet metal workers that would have repaired the very apparatus that was out of commission. So, frankly, … my question is, if you had retained all those individuals for paid overtime, what would they have been able to be deployed on?”
Rodriguez also pushed back against Bass’ claim that she wasn’t adequately warned about the weather by stating, “I knew. My staff knew. As far as I knew, generally, all of California knew that these winds were coming. So, it wasn’t a surprise. We were getting warnings that were unlike any warnings that we had received before, including life-threatening wind conditions. … For me, it’s really problematic to try and saddle the Chief with all of the blame on an issue. We are adults. We are the leaders that were elected to represent this city, and, for me, it runs afoul of holding responsibility for the decisions that [one] has made.”
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