Bass says LAFD Chief Crowley failed to warn her about fire risk
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In the weeks since the Palisades fire, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has faced repeated questions about why she left for Ghana as warnings about dangerous winds grew increasingly worrisome.
This week, Bass and her office spoke out for the first time about her decision, putting the blame on Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley and others for not warning her about the highly concerning weather forecasts.
“Before other major weather emergencies, the mayor — or at minimum, the mayor’s chief of staff — has received a direct call from the fire chief, flagging the severity of the situation. This time, that call never came,” Bass spokesperson Zach Seidl said in a statement.
Crowley did not reach out to the mayor’s chief deputy until Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, after the Palisades was already burning, Seidl said.
On Jan. 2, the National Weather Service warned on its X feed of the potential for “extreme fire weather conditions” beginning Jan. 7.
The agency’s forecast escalated on Jan. 3 to “major risk — take action” and “critical fire conditions.” The next day, Bass left for Ghana as part of a presidential delegation.
By Jan. 6, the agency was blaring on X: “HEADS UP!!! A LIFE-THREATENING, DESTRUCTIVE, Widespread Windstorm is expected Tue afternoon-Weds morning.”
The frightening wind forecasts, in a winter when the L.A. area had barely seen any rain, were featured in numerous news reports.
In the days after the fire erupted, tensions between Bass and Crowley emerged into public view, with Crowley saying on television that the city of Los Angeles — and by implication, Bass — had failed her and her department by not providing more funding and resources.
A representative for the Fire Department declined Thursday to directly address Seidl’s allegation that Crowley didn’t call Bass.
Kristin Crowley, in multiple interviews, drew a connection between budget cuts to her department and the city’s struggle to combat the wildfires.
“The LAFD followed our standard preparation procedures for the predicted extreme fire weather on January 7th,” the Fire Department said in a statement. “Additionally, public notifications and media advisories were made while the LAFD coordinated with other city departments and elected officials.”
The department used traditional and social media to notify the public about the fire danger, also doing media interviews, emailing two separate media advisories and notifying city officials, the statement said.
Separately, the LAFD has defended its decision not to pre-deploy any engines and firefighters to the Palisades — as they had done in the past — despite being warned that some of the most dangerous winds in recent years were headed for the region.
Asked about Bass’ statements, Freddy Escobar, president of the firefighters union, said there has been constant speculation and Monday morning quarterbacking since Jan. 7.
“The independent review and after action report needs to be completed before we continue reckless finger pointing,” Escobar said. “I can tell you that our rank-and-file firefighters appreciate Chief Crowley’s honesty regarding the state of the Fire Department and her fighting for the resources that we need to do our jobs.”
Bass, in television interviews this week, suggested she was left in the dark about the seriousness of the wildfire risk.
“It didn’t reach that level to me to say something terrible could happen, and maybe you shouldn’t have gone on the trip,” she told Fox 11 News.
She also suggested that the city was not well-prepared for the fire, which destroyed nearly 7,000 homes and other structures and killed at least 12 people.
“Although there were warnings, I think our preparation wasn’t what it typically is,” Bass said.
She pointed to last week’s rainstorm as an example of the city and county working together to take action.
“When we knew we were going to get into the rains, you saw us come together and us talk about, you know, get your sandbags, bring the K-rails out,” she said. “That type of preparation didn’t happen.”
In the Fox interview and an interview with KABC-TV Channel 7, Bass said she wouldn’t have traveled to Ghana if she had received adequate warnings about the potential for catastrophic wildfires.
“Because, honest and truly, if I had all of the information that I needed to have, the last thing I would have done was to be out of town,” she told KABC.
As the fire tore through the Palisades hills on Jan. 7, Bass was posing for photos at an embassy cocktail party in Ghana after attending the inauguration of Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama.
Seidl has said that she spent most of the party making calls in a separate room.
With Mayor Karen Bass far from L.A., Rick Caruso, her opponent in the 2022 election, swept in to fill the gap, blasting the city’s handling of the wildfires.
Bass has also said that she had phone service on the military plane that flew between Ghana and Washington, D.C. After the fire broke out, Bass was a constant presence on social media, urging Angelenos to flee evacuation zones and announcing her decision to declare an emergency.
After landing at Los Angeles International Airport, Bass stood silently, mostly avoiding eye contact as a Sky News reporter pressed her on whether she needed to apologize to Angelenos for being out of the country. A video of the confrontation went viral.
Back home, Bass was initially defensive about her trip, telling reporters that she was focused on the recovery. But she promised a full assessment of the city’s actions before and after the fire, including of the Fire Department’s actions.
Since then, critics have questioned Bass’ judgment and leadership.
After an outcry from residents, Bass reversed course on her decision to open Pacific Palisades to the public. She also reversed herself on her initial plan to pay her fire recovery czar, Steve Soboroff, $500,000 for 90 days of work. Soboroff is now working for free.
One of Bass’ sharpest critics has been developer Rick Caruso, who ran against her in 2022 and has not ruled out another campaign against her. He has positioned himself as a leader in the fire recovery by starting a foundation that is convening top engineering and technology companies to speed up rebuilding in both the Palisades and Eaton fire areas.
Times staff writer David Zahniser contributed to this report.
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