I totally saw this coming once the fire chief said that the city doesn’t support her regarding the major LA fires and the water supply problem. The DEI hire chief will now sue the city of LA and they will settle out of court.
Hopefully, the LAFD does not hire another DEI in the position and gets back to its para-military roots.
actually i thought this was the other way around... i thought the story was, the female fire chief has been yelling "warning" over the past few years cause the city (mayor) was cutting even more water supply to the fire departments... the female chief threw the mayor under the bus on live tv after the most recent fires for cutting water supply... i think this is why the chief got fired... throwing the mayor under the bus... and besides, look at who actually fired who after being thrown under the bus... i think it is more along them lines ... if you catch my drift...
#UPDATE: Following Mayor Bass' removal of Crowley as fire chief, Eyewitness News learned that Crowley has exercised her Civil Service rights to stay with the fire department at a lower rank.
Her duties will be assigned by Interim Chief Villanueva.
I lean toward 1DBC’s take here. I could be wrong but Chief Crowley actually struck me as at least somewhat competent. She has no control over empty reservoirs, etc. I felt like LAFD did the best they could with what they had.
Regardless, 100% she got fired for publicly shaming the mayor.
True that. We totally saw it coming.Originally Posted by go_buccos
Correct.
While the lesbian fire chief probably was a DEI hire, there doesn't seem to be any fault on her end.
Karen Bass and Gavin Newsom were at fault (more Bass than Newsom), and the fire chief got canned because she publicly spoke about Bass' incompetence.
My guess only- Crowley was NOT doing any type of pre-fire prevention or major disaster work. My long term complaint is that the major depts in So Cal are not prepping enough and I have posted this here on PFA prior. I knew once she bad talked the upper city management, the axe was coming down on her. Democrats are like that, always taking things personal.The LAFD IAFF local union seems to back her, but I dont care. Over my career, I have seen too many female fire chiefs fail and my confidence is low.
Kirstin Crowley made her first public comment Saturday since she was removed as the Los Angeles Fire Department Chief by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
Crowley's statement read in part "As the Fire Chief, I based my actions and decisions on taking care of our firefighters so that they could take care of our communities."
"I am extremely proud of the work, sacrifice and dedication of our LAFD members, both sworn and civilian," she added.
In you opinion, what should the LAFD have been doing to prepare for an event like this that they didn’t do? I’m not quite getting your point.
Making sure there is adequate water (i.e. full reservoirs) is within the purview of the water board. (Can’t remember exactly what’s it’s called there at the moment.)
Making sure excess/dead brush is cleared is within the purview of the State of California, and they’re notoriously awful at it due to draconian environmental regulations. Again, not LAFD’s fault.
I do understand that there maybe could have been more advance units posted in certain places but these fires spread so quickly (within minutes in some cases) and they were still going to run out of water anyway.
I feel like you are bound and determined to find fault with Chief Crowley just because she’s female and again I just don’t know if that applies here:
Having enough working fire trucks? As a thinking person would expect it’s never one thing or person .
I’m sure LAFD was always a fringe operation cause it’s LA
This woman seemed to have more credentials than you could shake a stick at. Desertrunner had an experience with women but not Jews? How does this work exactly?
Elon would have this mess put out to bid and privatized. I gotta think about that.
iirc the first fire dept’s were funded by insurance companies. Well, those are gone in LA but maybe Trump can broker a deal.
State subsidized and operated insurance is not gonna be the answer. Ron Paul can explain. You need a clean sheet
Last edited by Sanlmar; 02-23-2025 at 09:37 AM.
I will answer each of your questions in the order asked. Please keep in mind I am not with the LAFD, not an expert of the LAFD and only an outside observer.
Water Reservoir- Yes, the reservoir should have been filled. I have a strong feeling it really was NOT down for repairs, rather that was the lame excuse given to dodge responsibility. We didnt see any workers repairing it in the pictures, parts of it removed, etc, I question the whole "under repair" excuses. Did the LA DWP boost up the water pressure during the incident? Thats been a Fire Tech 101 in the past- boost up the water pressure. I have also posted here in the past that the City of LA gets some of their water from Lake Mead, Nevada via the Victorville pumping station in Lucerne Valley, CA. Could have the LA DWP boosted up the pressure from that source? I honestly dont know, curious.
Brush Clearance- Has LAFD been clearing brush in that area or other areas? Have they been using the County Camp crews or inmate crews to clear brush? Prescribed burns? Widening fire roads? I dont know, but an educated guess is No. There is SRA (State Responsible Area) and local city and county land. I dont know what projects they have done or completed, but I bet if you give me a week, I could go out and easily identify some target areas. Seems like the LAFD Fire Prevention section hasnt done it in the past. And I dont feel like it all falls on the state or SRA. The LAFD owns red bull dozers for a reason, to clear brush. I wish I could give a better answer here, but as a current LA County resident, I see alot of brush that can be cleared. As a private resident that owns multiple chain saws, I can do alot of work myself in a weeks time, imagine what a legit hand crew can do.
Pre-staging Fire Equipment- I dont have any information if the LAFD did this or not. The state units have pre-staged in the past. We had the big fire in Castaic last month and the LACo FD jumped on it quickly with a mass response. The key for the Castaic fire was the large aircraft response and this would have been advantageous for the Palisades Fire. I dont have any other info or opinion on this. I personally think fire prevention and brush reduction is the superior issue.
"I feel like you are bound and determined to find fault with Chief Crowley just because she’s female"- Its not that she is a female, its that she was a DEI hire with a political agenda, like most female fire chiefs. She didnt put safety, progress and prevention first, it was more about being woke, lesbian, liberal and showing us that this progressive thinking is that new way and it needs to be shoved down our throats. Now I did work with a female fire captain and then she promoted to battalion chief and she never had an agenda, rather just wanted to do a good job. I fully backed her then and would today. Do the job, do it right and save lives and property. Other female fire chief (SF and SD) have failed in the past because they put politics in front of service. Just do the fucking job correctly and their shouldnt be issues.
Various note on the LAFD-
- As far as i know, they do not own any type 3 or 4 wildland engines. They did have atleast 1 brush Humvee, but phased it out. They do have a yellow state OES Type 4 and a hand full or Type 6 patrol trucks, but no Type 3 or 4 engines- not good. They need to look at investing in some of these trucks. Cal Fire used to call these Model 14 and 15, now they are Model 34 and 35. For along time, LACo FD only had like one Type 3 engine (I think at Catalina), but now has a few more and specifically a Type 4. Good job to LACo.
- The LAFD is very historical with their apparatus fleet. They refuse to upgrade their aerial truck companies to Quints that carry water and stick with the "Light Force" concept. A Lihgt Force is an engine and truck together and the engine supports the truck. I like how LACo designed their Quints. The OCFA also runs aerial quints and they seem to work well. I think LAFD should upgrade to the Quint concept and then they could break up the Light Force and forward respond their fire engines to vegetation fires, etc. This is not Crawley's fault, but an operational change that should take place. How can you justify not having fire truck with no water, it sucks. Also, if the engine pump fails, the whole Light Force is out of service, not good.
Note- Maybe 20 years ago, the city of Anaheim loaned the LAFD a aerial truck that carried water and the LAFD just didnt like it. But it was not the tiller type, it was a regular straight truck. What should happen today- The LACo FD should loan a Quint to the LAFD to serious testing.
- The LAFD staffs their 911 communication center with actual firefighters. This is a waste of money as the agency could convert to civilian staff and upgrade their CAD and station alarming system. Crawley could have jumped on this, but it would break LAFD tradition. Who else uses the more modern dispatch systems- Ventura County, Clark County/Las Vegas, OCFA, Alameda County, Verdugo Dispatch (Burbank/Glendale), San Bern Co/IE/CONFIRE, etc. The LAFD is far behind.
- Under the previous fire chief, the LAFD acquired a Rosenbauer (Rosen-broken) EX fire engine. It was totally out of fleet spec and has been in the shop for repairs ever since delivered. Under Crawley, its still been a failure and should have been removed long ago. Note- Rosenbauer is total low bid junk and both LACo and Ventura County has gone to this vendor for trucks, what a total mistake.
- Under the previous fire chief, the LAFD switch their fire helmets to a more traditional design. This was to look more like the Chicago Fire TV show. The opted to pay more money for an inferior product. The rumor is that the guys hate the extra weight and helmet over all. The LAFD wasted alot of money to make the switch and will probably switch back to the previous better model soon. Why is this an issue with me- They wasted good money to downgrade to a more inferior model that impacts firefighter health and safety. This was not done under Crawley, but shows a previous management failure, in my opinion.
I am guessing the next LAFD fire chief will be an outside hire and a black male. They tried this along time at the LAPD and it was a failure. They need to hire a real qualified person based on merit instead of race or DEI.
In closing, I feel that the LAFD is a good department, but has made mistakes in the past and has some operational correction to make in the future. I think Crawley was a DEI hire done to add to a larger political agenda. "Hey look, we are lesbians!"- no one cares.
I hope this answers your questions. Again, I am not with the LAFD or an expert on their department.
Speaking of LAFD’s failed EV fire engine, Rosenbauer wrapped one for Clark County in Las Vegas and the CCFD passed on it…
The abrupt dismissal of Los Angeles’ first female Fire Chief by the mayor signals a moment of profound institutional recalibration. Superficially framed as an administrative decision, this maneuver likely belies a confluence of bureaucratic machinations, interdepartmental discord, and perhaps latent ideological tensions. Was this an exigent course correction predicated on demonstrable inefficacy, or a politically expedient scapegoating to placate unseen stakeholders? Leadership purges at this echelon rarely occur in a vacuum—rather, they underscore a more intricate dialectic between governance, public optics, and entrenched power structures. The ramifications of this decision will undoubtedly reverberate beyond the municipal sphere.
shits crazy
Los Angeles wildfire czar’s $500K paycheck for 90 days of work draws swift blowback, mayor reverses course
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass backtracked on Saturday amid reports that her wildfire recovery czar, Steve Soboroff, would be compensated $500,000 for 90 days of work.
The Los Angeles Times first reported Saturday morning that Soboroff, a real estate developer and longtime civic official, would be paid $500,000 over the course of three months for working as the city’s “chief recovery officer.”
His compensation was to come from charity organizations, but Bass, who first tapped Soboroff for the job on Jan. 17, quickly reversed course by Saturday evening. She said Soboroff would now manage the rebuilding of the city free of charge.
“Steve is always there for LA. I spoke to him today and asked him to modify his agreement and work for free. He said yes,” Bass said, according to the Times."
A Jewish multibilliomaire, yea give him all the charity money.
F that.
Another person, longtime real estate executive Randy Johnson, was to be compensated $250,000 from philanthropic groups for assisting Soboroff, but he too would now do the job for free, Bass said.
Soboroff is a known LA grifter. He's done good things (Playa Vista) but is not really relevant to fire disaster recovery.
The Mayor is a clown. Known leftist Castro sympathizer. Cut the LAFD budget by 17M, has hundreds of broken down trucks and equipment that should have been operational but lets them sit.
The Chief def checked all the DEI boxes but was at least a functional leader. The City controller has been whining about all the lawsuits that the city pays out for LAPD and LAFD yet this one will likely cost the city many more millions.
Bass is not capable of leading a city let alone the City of LA. She left for Ghana on a Biden junket knowing full well the risks of the winds and then claims she wasn't told. Your Twitter timeline says otherwise.
Crowley learning a hard lesson that you need to kiss up to your DEI overlords that got you there, or otherwise you're out on your ass.
I actually feel bad for her, because it seems she did fine with the resources she had, and the fault was on the part of Bass. Then she spoke the truth, and got canned for it.
She will sue under the whistle protection law and California even came out with a new work place retaliation law in 2024 that she can use- California Labor Code 98.6.
I do need to add that she is a fellow firefighter and I do need to support her to some degree.
Last edited by desertrunner; 03-04-2025 at 06:59 PM.
You are not Nostradamus. She was fired as a public official under murky circumstances yeah a lawsuit was coming. This happens all the time. If you are congratulating yourself for stating the obvious, have at it.
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