A number of battalion chiefs have signed a letter calling for Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) Chief Kristin Crowley to step down over the mismanaged response to wildfires devastating Los Angeles, NewsNation reported.
Multiple wildfires rapidly spread through Pasadena and other localities around Los Angeles, destroying thousands of buildings and leaving at least 27 people dead. The chiefs accused Crowley of being “disingenuous,” saying she “failed” to have the department prepared for wildfires in the letter obtained by NewsNation.
“You have been the Fire Chief since March 25, 2022,” the chiefs wrote. “You have been aware of the budget issues of the LAFD prior to your appointment as Fire Chief, yet now you publicly proclaim that you have been sounding the alarm about the LAFD budget to no avail? Please do not be disingenuous as we know better. You went along with the budget cuts and now that they have come back to haunt you, you appear to be in CYA mode.”
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The city cut the LAFD’s budget by almost $20 million last year, with the bulk of the cuts hitting the department’s operational supplies. The city later restored money to the LAFD budget after negotiations with the fire union in November.
“We all know that residents residing in any residential wildland urban interface are at risk during a wind driven brush fire. Yes evacuation alerts went out, however they were too little too late. They were not coordinated or organized as they should have been. What happened with the Bureau Commanders working with their respective LAPD Bureaus/Divisions on evacuation orders/plans prior to these catastrophic incidents occurring?” the letter says. “Where were the Community Fire Patrols, High Hazard Brush Patrols, etc.? When was the last fire station first in district quarterly drive through conducted (no longer in effect under your command) which would have identified potential brushfire issues.”
“All the preventive systems and mechanisms that we have put into place in the past were nonexistent at the Palisades fire,” the letter continues. “We attribute this to you and your command staffs lack of experience, arrogance, inability to lead and manage the LAFD both in emergency and non-emergency times, and the recent retirement of over 125 senior command officers. Your job as Fire Chief was to prepare us, the LAFD for an incident of this magnitude and you have failed.”
Los Angeles officials have come under fire over LAFD’s pursuit of a “racial equity plan” under Chief Crowley, whose biography touts her as “the first female and LGBTQ Fire Chief” in the agency’s history.
State officials also failed to follow through on a 2014 initiative that authorized bonds for a new reservoir and a 2019 program focused on wildfire prevention after devastating wildfires in 2018, with officials overstating the amount of acreage treated with wildfire prevention and mitigation procedures like controlled burns.
The Los Angeles Fire Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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