Source : Perth Now news
Amid the devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires, the head of the city’s firefighting body is also dealing with a public row over resources and sniping over gender and diversity.
Kristin Crowley was elevated to Los Angeles fire chief in 2022 at a time of turmoil in a department consumed by complaints of rampant hazing, harassment and discrimination among its 3,400-member ranks.
As a career firefighter, she was portrayed by the then-mayor as a stabilising force.
Three years later, the mood between Crowley and City Hall has changed.
The wildfire in Pacific Palisades that has burned more than 5,000 structures to become the most destructive in city history has put leaders on the defensive and led Crowley to engage in a public spat with Mayor Karen Bass over resources, even as the battle against flames continues across the Los Angeles area.
Crowley publicly criticised the city on Friday for budget cuts that she said made it harder for firefighters to do their jobs. She also cast blame on the city for water running out when about 20 per cent of the hydrants tapped to fight the Palisades fire went dry.
“I’m not a politician, I’m a public servant. It’s my job as the fire chief for Los Angeles city fire dept to make sure our firefighters have exactly what they need to do their jobs,” she told CNN.
Her comments and perceived falling-out with Bass prompted so much speculation about her job security that the union issued a statement Friday assuring rank-and-file members that she had not been fired.
The following day the mayor sought to tamp down the tension.
“Let me be clear about something: The fire chief and I are focused on fighting these fires and saving lives, and any differences that we might have will be worked out in private,” Bass said at a news conference. “But right now our first and most important obligation to Angelenos is to get through this crisis.”
This followed several days of Crowley getting swept into the national political fray over diversity, equity and inclusion policies. Crowley, who is openly gay and the city’s first female fire chief, has made diversifying the overwhelmingly male department a priority.
“What we are seeing (was) largely preventable,” talk show host Megyn Kelly said on her show. “LA’s fire chief has made not filling the fire hydrants top priority, but diversity.”
There’s no evidence that Crowley’s efforts to diversify the department have hampered the fight. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is in charge of providing water for the hydrants, and its leaders have said they were overwhelmed by the intense demand on a municipal system not designed to fight wildfires, particularly as firefighting aircraft were grounded. Governor Gavin Newsom has ordered an investigation into what happened, and Crowley herself added to the criticism.
“When a firefighter comes up to a hydrant, we expect there’s going to be water,” she said during a local news interview.
Philadelphia Managing Director Adam K. Thiel, who previously served as that city’s fire commissioner, suggested that people reserve judgement until the fires can be investigated. He noted that firefighters cannot control the weather, a key factor in battling wildfires.
“Firefighting, to a regular person, probably appears to be a relatively simple process of putting water on a fire,” said Thiel, who knows Crowley and praised her experience. “In reality every firefighting operation, in any environment, is inherently volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous.”
Crowley had warned that budget cuts could hamper the department’s ability to respond to emergencies, including wildfires.
Bass has said the department has the resources needed to do its job and she will address specifics once the crisis subsides.
