Imperfect Paradise: The fallout over LAFD funding: Bass vs. Crowley

California City

LAist Studios

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4.5 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 16 April 2025

⏱️ 41 minutes

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Summary

Amid the devastating Palisades and Eaton Fires that killed more than two dozen people, a political conflict came sharply into focus surrounding the funding of the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD). Finger-pointing as to who was to blame included former LA Fire Chief Kristin Crowley and LA Mayor Karen Bass. The two women would be lambasted for their handling of one of the most destructive natural disasters in Southern California history. But instead of coming together to fend off attacks and manage the fire response, Bass and Crowley ended up engaging in a very public feud. We look back at each side's accusations, the funding of the LAFD, the political futility of blame, and what it might tell us about preventing future wildfires in Los Angeles.

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Transcript

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0:32.3	You're listening to Imperfect Paradise.
0:34.5	I'm Antonia Selejida.
0:39.2	It was January 8th, the day after two giant firestorms had engulfed Los Angeles.
0:46.0	More than a thousand structures had already burned down, and everyone was looking for someone
0:51.6	to blame. Megan Kelly, the conservative political commentator,
0:56.8	went on her serious XM show to blast two Los Angeles government officials
1:00.8	for their response to the fires.
1:03.1	The first L.A. Mayor Karen Bass
1:05.3	for being on a diplomatic trip when the fires erupted.
1:09.5	The city's mayor, Karen Bass, is in Ghana right now.
1:15.0	She's on her way back now, but she's not even in the country.
1:19.0	And second, L.A. Fire Department Chief Kristen Crowley, the first woman, an openly gay
1:24.0	L.A. fire chief, who Kelly said at the time, was more concerned with increasing
1:28.6	diversity in the fire department than fighting fires. Kelly critiqued an interview that Crowley did
1:34.4	just after she was appointed. In it, Crowley was talking about how she hoped that through her
1:39.4	leadership, the fire department would become more welcoming to women and members of the LGBTQ community.
1:46.4	Who gives a shit if the fire chief is gay?
	...

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