Sacked LA fire chief sues city, says Mayor Bass used her as a scapegoat after the Palisades Fire

Crowley files lawsuit against Los Angeles

Former Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley sued the city on Feb. 20, 2026, claiming Mayor Karen Bass fired her in retaliation for speaking publicly about budget cuts.

Crowley filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court, accusing the city of violating California’s Labor Code and state Constitution.

She says Bass waged a campaign against her after the deadly January 2025 Palisades Fire and removed her to shift blame for the city’s fire response failures. Crowley is seeking monetary damages.

The Palisades Fire killed 12 people

The Palisades Fire started on Jan. 7, 2025, as Santa Ana winds gusted up to 80 mph. It killed 12 people and destroyed about 6,837 structures across Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and nearby areas.

It became the most destructive wildfire in Los Angeles city history.

That same day, the Eaton Fire broke out in Altadena, killing at least 17 people and destroying more than 10,000 structures.

Federal authorities later determined the Palisades Fire was a holdover from an earlier blaze set on New Year’s Day.

Crowley made LAFD history as chief

Kristin Crowley became the LAFD’s 19th fire chief in March 2022 when then-Mayor Eric Garcetti appointed her. She was the first woman to hold the job in the department’s history.

Crowley joined the LAFD in 2000 and spent more than two decades rising through the ranks. She held nearly every role along the way, from paramedic to engineer to captain to battalion chief.

She also became the city’s first female fire marshal in 2016.

Crowley says Bass ignored budget warnings

The lawsuit claims Bass ignored repeated warnings from Crowley about a roughly $17.6 million cut to the LAFD’s operating budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

Crowley says those cuts left the department short on staff, equipment, and resources heading into fire season.

The suit also says Bass took a diplomatic trip to Ghana as the fire erupted, despite National Weather Service warnings about severe wind and fire conditions.

Crowley says Bass never told her she was leaving the country.

A CBS interview changed everything

Three days after the fire, on Jan. 10, 2025, Crowley went on CBS News and said the department was underfunded. According to the lawsuit, Bass called Crowley into an unscheduled meeting that same day.

Crowley claims Bass told her she didn’t understand why Crowley spoke to the media, saying they were normally on the same page. The lawsuit argues that the interview was the real reason Bass moved to push her out.

Bass fired Crowley six weeks later

Bass removed Crowley as fire chief on Feb. 21, 2025.

Bass said Crowley failed to pre-deploy firefighters to both the Palisades and Altadena fire zones and sent 1,000 firefighters home instead of keeping them on duty the morning the fires started.

Bass also pointed to Crowley’s alleged refusal to produce an after-action report. Crowley has denied all of those claims.

She had filed a tort claim against the city in August 2025 before escalating to this formal lawsuit.

Bass adviser calls the lawsuit meritless

Yusef Robb, Bass’s senior adviser, called the lawsuit meritless. Robb said Crowley lost her job because she failed to pre-deploy and sent 1,000 firefighters home.

The city’s top financial analyst also pushed back on Crowley’s budget claims, saying overall LAFD spending actually went up that fiscal year, largely because of an estimated $53 million in firefighter raises.

The city must now file a formal response to the lawsuit in Superior Court.

A confidential memo raised new questions

A 13-page confidential LAFD memo outlined a strategy to protect Bass and the city from reputational harm ahead of the department’s after-action report.

News outlets obtained the document through public records requests.

It sat on LAFD letterhead and included contact information for department officials, Bass’s office, and public relations consultants.

The memo proposed closed-door briefings with the Fire Commission and City Council to limit tough questions. Bass’s adviser said the PR consultant worked for the fire department, not the mayor.

Reports say the after-action report changed

The Los Angeles Times reported in December 2025 that the LAFD’s after-action report had been altered to soften criticism of the department’s failure to pre-deploy engines and crews.

Two sources told the Times that Bass told interim Chief Ronnie Villanueva the early draft could expose the city to legal trouble. As many as seven drafts were created before the final version came out on Oct. 8, 2025.

Bass denied any involvement and called the Times story completely fabricated.

Fire response drew wider criticism too

The city faced criticism beyond Crowley’s claims. The evacuation of Pacific Palisades during the fire was chaotic, and a local reservoir, the Santa Ynez Reservoir, sat empty for repairs when firefighters needed water most.

An attorney representing fire victims said the city and state have withheld and altered facts about the response.

These issues form the backdrop of both Crowley’s lawsuit and multiple civil lawsuits that fire victims have filed against the city.

Feds charged a man with starting the fire

Federal authorities arrested Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, in October 2025 and charged him with arson for allegedly starting the Lachman Fire on Jan. 1, 2025.

Prosecutors say that fire smoldered underground for six days before reigniting in high winds on Jan. 7, becoming the Palisades Fire.

Rinderknecht has pleaded not guilty to three federal arson charges and faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted. His trial is set to begin in April 2026.

Both sides prepare for what comes next

The city must now file a formal legal response to Crowley’s lawsuit.

The discovery process could force the release of internal communications about budget decisions and the mayor’s travel during the emergency.

Crowley remains employed with the LAFD in a lower-ranking assistant chief position, most recently assigned to the Risk, Health and Safety Division.

Her lawsuit demands a retraction of what she calls false statements, a formal public apology, and an end to ongoing retaliation.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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