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Former Los Angeles Fire Chief speaks during a City Council meeting in support of an appeal of her firing by Mayor Karen Bass.The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday denied an appeal by Kristin Crowley to reinstate her as the city's fire chief.
After a lengthy and at times heated discussion, the City Council voted 13-2 to reject the appeal. Crowley needed votes from 10 of 15 council members to overturn Mayor Karen Bass' decision to fire her.At the hearing, the former LAFD chief refuted many of Bass' stated reasons for her firing. Specifically, she talked about her actions on Jan. 7, the day the Palisades Fire ignited, comments she made publicly at that time about department needs and budgetary problems, and her thoughts about an after-action report expected after the fires were contained.The mayor said Crowley failed to activate more firefighters amid forecasts of gale force winds and extremely dry brush. She also said Crowley failed to warn her ahead of time about the dangerous conditions and that the former fire chief refused to cooperate with the Fire Commission’s evaluation of how the department responded to the fire.Read the full story The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday denied an appeal by Kristin Crowley to reinstate her as the city's fire chief. After a lengthy and at times heated discussion, the panel voted 13-2 to deny the appeal. The two council members who supported reinstating the former chief were Monica Rodriguez and Traci Park. Park's district includes Pacific Palisades, the area within the city where the fires that ignited in early January were most devastating and deadly. Crowley needed votes from 10 of 15 council members to overturn Mayor Karen Bass' decision to fire her. At the hearing, the former LAFD chief refuted many of Bass' stated reasons for her firing. Crowley talked about her actions on Jan. 7, the day the Palisades Fire ignited, comments she made publicly at that time about department needs and budgetary problems, and her thoughts about an after-action report expected after the fires were contained. "It is never the wrong time to do the right thing and to speak the truth," Crowley said."And 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 firefighters and our communities." After she spoke she received a standing ovation from Fire Department personnel in the council chambers. When announcing Crowley's firing on Feb. 21, Bass cited the former chief’s response to the Palisades Fire, which burned more than 23,000 acres, destroyed 6,837 homes and killed 12 people. The mayor said Crowley failed to activate more firefighters amid forecasts of gale force winds and extremely dry brush. She also said Crowley failed to warn her ahead of time about the dangerous conditions and that the former fire chief refused to cooperate with the Fire Commission’s evaluation of how the department responded to the fire. Tuesday was the first time Crowley had responded publicly to Bass’ comments. However, she did say in a statement issued after her firing that she “based her actions and decisions on taking care of our firefighters so that they could take care of our communities.”
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