By MES Dispatch Staff
The Briefing
- Former Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley filed a defamation lawsuit Tuesday against Mayor Karen Bass personally, alleging the mayor made false statements on the campaign trail to shift blame for the January 2025 Palisades Fire and protect her own reputation.
- Crowley claims Bass falsely blamed her for inoperable fire engines, budget shortfalls, and the alleged removal of 1,000 firefighters from duty during critical fire-suppression operations.
- The Palisades Fire on January 7, 2025, killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of homes; Bass was attending a ceremony in Ghana when the fire began spreading amid extreme red-flag fire conditions.
- Crowley’s lawsuit alleges that Bass, while campaigning for reelection, “orchestrated a campaign of retaliation” and knowingly spread misinformation despite being aware that Crowley had publicly and privately opposed budget cuts the mayor authorized.
- Bass fired Crowley on February 21, 2025, six weeks after the fire, stating she learned additional firefighters could have been deployed on the day the blaze ignited, which Crowley disputes.
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. — Former Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley filed a personal defamation lawsuit Tuesday against Mayor Karen Bass, alleging the mayor made knowingly false statements while campaigning for reelection to shift responsibility for the catastrophic Palisades Fire and shield herself from public scrutiny.
Crowley’s lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, contends that statements Bass made on the campaign trail were not protected by government immunity because they were made in Bass’ personal capacity as an election candidate rather than as a government official.
According to Crowley’s legal complaint, Bass spread misinformation regarding the Palisades Fire response, LAFD resource allocation and deployment decisions, and Crowley’s performance as fire chief. The complaint alleges that Bass “sought to avoid accountability by shifting blame and lying — including by falsely claiming that she was not aware of the nationally anticipated weather event.”
The January 7, 2025 Palisades Fire erupted amid fierce Santa Ana winds and ultimately killed 12 people, destroyed thousands of homes and resulted in billions of dollars in damage. Bass was attending an official ceremony in Ghana on January 7 as the fire spread across Pacific Palisades. Although authorities allege a Florida man currently on trial started the fire, decisions by LAFD leadership and the mayor before, during, and after January 7 have come under sustained scrutiny.
Crowley’s attorneys, Genie Harrison and Mia Munro, point to a televised debate on May 6 during Bass’ reelection campaign in which the mayor allegedly blamed Crowley for inoperable fire engines. The lawsuit states that Bass falsely attributed engine downtime to Crowley’s management decisions when, in fact, the engines were not repaired due to insufficient funding for mechanics that resulted from Bass-authorized budget cuts.
The lawsuit further alleges that Bass told debate viewers that Crowley had sent home 1,000 firefighters who would have been in the area during the fire—a claim the former chief characterizes as false and “maliciously and intentionally exploited.”
Crowley previously sued the city in February 2026, alleging that Bass “orchestrated a campaign of retaliation” and removed her as fire chief to deflect mounting criticism of the mayor’s absence from Los Angeles as the fire spread. Bass fired Crowley on February 21, 2025, six weeks after the fire. Initially praising Crowley’s response, Bass later stated she had learned that additional firefighters could have been deployed on the day the fire ignited and that was the reason for Crowley’s termination. Crowley disputed Bass’ characterization of events.
According to records obtained by the Los Angeles Times, shortly before releasing an after-action report on the Palisades Fire, the LAFD issued a confidential memo detailing plans to protect Bass and others from reputational harm. The document detailed coordination between LAFD officials, representatives of Bass’ office, and public relations consultants hired to shape messaging about the fire.
The Times further revealed that the city’s after-action report had been altered during the editing process to deflect criticism of the LAFD’s failure to predeploy fire engines and crews to Pacific Palisades, among other identified shortcomings.
Crowley’s lawsuit emphasizes that she repeatedly warned city leaders before the fire that budget cuts, aging infrastructure, surging emergency calls, and shrinking staff had left Los Angeles at risk. Crowley told a local television news station three days after the fire that the LAFD was “screaming to be properly funded,” which prompted Bass to summon Crowley to her office, according to the complaint.
Before Crowley’s dismissal, the city’s top financial analyst challenged Crowley’s budget-cutting narrative, asserting that spending on the Fire Department actually increased during that budget year, particularly through a package of firefighter raises that added approximately $53 million to the department’s budget.
Crowley is seeking unspecified economic and compensatory damages from Bass personally. She has served as a career firefighter with the LAFD for more than 26 years.
