Soon after Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley publicly blamed city officials for the disastrous response to historic wildfires in California, embattled Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass reportedly summoned Crowley to her office.

Reports swirled Friday night that Crowley was going to be axed from her position by Bass. The Daily Mail, relying on a source, even reported that Crowley had been fired. However, the mayor’s office has since claimed that Crowley remains in place as fire chief.

“The Mayor and Chief met. The priority remains fighting these fires and protecting Angelenos,” the office said in a statement.

The LAFD’s public information officer, Erik Scott, released a similar message late Friday night.

“On Friday, January 10th, Fire Chief Kristin Crowley of the Los Angeles City Fire Department met with Mayor Karen Bass,” Scott posted on X. “Their foremost priorities continue to be fighting the current wildfires and safeguarding Angelenos. It is important to note that the Fire Chief was not dismissed and is in full command of the LAFD.” 

According to a Daily Mail source, Crowley said her goodbyes before heading to the meeting, expecting to be fired.

“She was going into the meeting, telling everybody goodbye, because she was told the whole purpose of the meeting was to fire her,” the source said. “When she was summoned into the meeting, it was with the direct purpose to fire her.”

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“Whatever happened in that meeting, minds got changed,” the source added. “Either Bass realized it would be suicide to fire her, and came to her senses, or Crowley talked her out of it. She came back in the office briefly, told her staff ‘I’m not fired yet’ and went into a meeting with all her chiefs.”

Earlier on Friday, Crowley bluntly told the press that city leadership “failed” her department.

As neighborhoods burned down in LA this past week, Bass was on a taxpayer-funded trip to the African nation of Ghana for the inauguration of the nation’s new president. To much criticism, Bass did not make it back to the city until Wednesday, and was peppered with questions about her absence upon her arrival.

Residents have since spoken out about the mayor’s lack of leadership. “We have questions,” a Pacific Palisades resident named Rachel Darvish said on Fox News. “I know where I am right now, but I don’t know where my mayor was when this was happening.” 

“For someone to be in charge of my town – where were you?” Darvish added. “Where were you when the decisions should have been made about how to get in and out of places.”

Bass is also taking flak for cutting the fire department’s budget by more than $17 million dollars, which is actually a more modest cut than the $23 million the Democrat initially wanted to axe.

Meanwhile, Crowley has criticized for her commitment to DEI goals over competence and effectiveness.

For example, the department’s assistant chief, Kristine Larson, appears in a video in which she says that if someone complains about a woman firefighter’s inability to carry a man out of a fire, her response would be, “He got himself in the wrong place if I have to carry him out of a fire.”

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Soon after Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley publicly blamed city officials for the disastrous response to historic wildfires in California, embattled Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass reportedly summoned Crowley to her office.

Reports swirled Friday night that Crowley was going to be axed from her position by Bass. The Daily Mail, relying on a source, even reported that Crowley had been fired. However, the mayor’s office has since claimed that Crowley remains in place as fire chief.

“The Mayor and Chief met. The priority remains fighting these fires and protecting Angelenos,” the office said in a statement.

The LAFD’s public information officer, Erik Scott, released a similar message late Friday night.

“On Friday, January 10th, Fire Chief Kristin Crowley of the Los Angeles City Fire Department met with Mayor Karen Bass,” Scott posted on X. “Their foremost priorities continue to be fighting the current wildfires and safeguarding Angelenos. It is important to note that the Fire Chief was not dismissed and is in full command of the LAFD.” 

According to a Daily Mail source, Crowley said her goodbyes before heading to the meeting, expecting to be fired.

“She was going into the meeting, telling everybody goodbye, because she was told the whole purpose of the meeting was to fire her,” the source said. “When she was summoned into the meeting, it was with the direct purpose to fire her.”

JOIN THE MOVEMENT IN ’25 WITH 25% OFF DAILYWIRE+ ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS WITH CODE DW25

“Whatever happened in that meeting, minds got changed,” the source added. “Either Bass realized it would be suicide to fire her, and came to her senses, or Crowley talked her out of it. She came back in the office briefly, told her staff ‘I’m not fired yet’ and went into a meeting with all her chiefs.”

Earlier on Friday, Crowley bluntly told the press that city leadership “failed” her department.

As neighborhoods burned down in LA this past week, Bass was on a taxpayer-funded trip to the African nation of Ghana for the inauguration of the nation’s new president. To much criticism, Bass did not make it back to the city until Wednesday, and was peppered with questions about her absence upon her arrival.

Residents have since spoken out about the mayor’s lack of leadership. “We have questions,” a Pacific Palisades resident named Rachel Darvish said on Fox News. “I know where I am right now, but I don’t know where my mayor was when this was happening.” 

“For someone to be in charge of my town – where were you?” Darvish added. “Where were you when the decisions should have been made about how to get in and out of places.”

Bass is also taking flak for cutting the fire department’s budget by more than $17 million dollars, which is actually a more modest cut than the $23 million the Democrat initially wanted to axe.

Meanwhile, Crowley has criticized for her commitment to DEI goals over competence and effectiveness.

For example, the department’s assistant chief, Kristine Larson, appears in a video in which she says that if someone complains about a woman firefighter’s inability to carry a man out of a fire, her response would be, “He got himself in the wrong place if I have to carry him out of a fire.”

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