The former head of the Los Angeles Fire Department is suing the city and Mayor Karen Bass for an “orchestrated” campaign of retaliation following the January 2025 wildfire in the Pacific Palisades.
Mayor Bass “sought to avoid accountability by shifting blame and lying — including falsely claiming that she was not aware of the nationally anticipated weather event, falsely claiming that the LAFD’s budget was not cut, and falsely claiming that LAFD’s resources would have supported an additional 1,000 firefighters to fight the blaze — claims contradicted by public records and Bass’ own prior statements,” Kristin Crowley’s lawsuit claims. “These false statements were not mistakes but part of a deliberate strategy to divert scrutiny from Bass’ decisions and to avoid accountability.”
Crowley says she was a whistleblower, who was ultimately fired in order to preserve Bass’ reputation. Crowley claims she repeatedly warned that cuts to the fire department budget could put the city in danger.
Crowley filed the suit one day after the Los Angeles Times published an internal LAFD memo showing how officials sought to shield Bass and the city from scrutiny after the fires. The memo circulated after Crowley had already been fired as chief of LAFD. Ronnie Villanueva was serving as interim chief at the time.
“It’s our goal to prepare and protect Mayor Bass, the City, and the LAFD from reputational harm associated with the upcoming public release of its [after action report], through a comprehensive strategy that includes risk assessment, proactive and reactive communications, and crisis response,” the memo stated.
Yusef Robb, a senior advisor to Mayor Bass, said the following in a statement to the Los Angeles Times:
“Ms. Crowley was removed from her post for her failure to predeploy and her decision to send 1,000 firefighters home instead of keeping them on duty on the morning the fires broke out. This lawsuit has no merit.”