L.A. Woman: Former Chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department Kristin Crowley

Yahoo

07-03-2025

Three years ago, Chief Kristin Crowley made history when she was appointed the first female leader of the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD). For the people who stood beside her 'on the line' — firefighter parlance for working together in the unrelenting war the department wages on the streets of L.A. against not only fires but medical emergencies, drug overdoses and arsonists — the pick was anything but a 'diversity hire.'Crowley made her bones in Fire Station 11 — which is so action-packed, Firehouse magazine dubbed the 7th Street station, located in the heart of the hardscrabble neighborhood of MacArthur Park, the busiest in the nation. When Crowley was a rookie more than two decades ago, the neighborhood pulsed with gang violence. The truck company of Fire Station 11 was in around-the-clock motion responding to the ugly aftermath of shootings and stabbings along with kitchen fires and heart attacks. Crowley, her fellow firefighter remembers, was a hard-charging 'truckie' in a firehouse that, back then, was all men.'She wasn't a girl firefighter,' one of her former Fire Station 11 alum told Los Angeles on the condition of anonymity. 'She was a badass firefighter. Always ready when the alarm sounded.'When the alarm sounded on Jan. 7, no one — not even someone with Crowley's solid experience in virtually every LAFD role — could have been ready. The Santa Ana winds were ferocious. Dozens of rigs were awaiting repairs, which meant some firefighters who showed up to the battle (after the LAFD made a highly unusual call for off-duty members to report for duty) couldn't get a ride up to the neighborhoods being devoured by fast-moving flames. To make matters worse, firefighters confronting the monstrous Palisades Fire were out of ammunition: a reservoir that supplied water to fire hydrants in Pacific Palisades was closed for repairs, so hydrants were tapped dry.The Chief was seemingly everywhere in the desperate hours her members spent working to contain a ceaseless run of fires that raged across the city for weeks. She wasn't just up against the deadly wildfires, but Crowley was also pulled from the chaos for a heated meeting at City Hall after she spoke out regarding a $17 million budget cut to the LAFD.Mayor Karen Bass wasn't happy about her remarks, but firefighters were. 'This was a once in a lifetime fire, completely unprecedented in so many ways,' said LAFD Captain Frank Lima, an L.A. representative for the International Association of Fire Fighters. 'We stand by the Chief.'Crowley responded to all the chaos swirling around her with the same grace she displayed at her swearing-in ceremony — where she was flanked by her wife, retired firefighter Hollyn Bullock, and their three daughters. Beaming, she shared with those assembled that she was attracted to her work in the LAFD because of what she called 'the goodness of what everybody brings to work each and every day.'It was a sentiment she repeated every chance she got as the LAFD's 3,400 members remained unwavering in their fight against an uncontrollable force of nature for the four million residents in the City of Angels.On Jan. 21, Mayor Bass, the first female mayor of L.A., fired Crowley — claiming she didn't alert her to how dangerous the red flag warning could prove. Crowley has not spoken since, other than to release a statement saying her actions were based on 'taking care of our firefighters so that they could take care of our communities.' Crowley has exercised her right to stay on the LAFD at a lower rank which was announced after she lost her appeal with the Los Angeles City Council in early March.Crowley said she was "disappointed" that the City Council voted 13-2 to back the mayor's decision to remove her, she had no regrets. "My heart is full of gratitude for the outpouring of love and support that I received. Standing up, speaking out, and advocating for our LAFD firefighters, their families, and the communities that we serve will always be the right thing to do."She added, "It has been an absolute honor of a lifetime to serve and represent the incredible men and women of the LAFD for nearly three years. The LAFD deserves to be properly funded, staffed, and resourced so we can meet the ever-changing needs of our communities. We owe that to the LAFD and to those we serve.'Crowley is now the Assistant Chief in the LAFD's Operations Valley Bureau.
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