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During a KTLA interview Monday, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Traci Park addressed Mayor Karen Bass’s decision to remove Fire Chief Kristin Crowley, emphasizing that widespread budget reductions had severely impacted operational capabilities and resource availability.

When questioned about Bass’s claim of insufficient warning regarding fire dangers, Park emphasized the pervasive nature of weather-related warnings across all media platforms. She noted that emergency alerts were extensively distributed through television, radio, and social media channels, with the fire department actively communicating the severe risk conditions. Park also pointed out that the mayor’s own office had acknowledged the situation through announcements about emergency department deployments.

Park defended Crowley’s leadership, noting the former chief’s consistent messaging about departmental understaffing and resource shortages. She referenced a critical December meeting where she and union members united with Crowley to address these pressing concerns. “Chief Crowley has been very clear and consistent in her message, from day one, that our fire department does not have the staffing and resources that it needs to keep Los Angeles safe on an average day. She warned, the Mayor…in early December that she did not have what she needed to prepare for or respond to a major emergency like a wildfire, and that is why I and members of the union went to Fire Commission on December 17 to stand in solidarity with the Chief, united in our focus on righting the ship on these issues so that what happened in the Palisades doesn’t happen anywhere else.”

The councilwoman elaborated on how the elimination of civilian positions and reduced overtime allocations had hampered the department’s effectiveness. She explained that the initial budget allocation proved insufficient for the department’s operational needs, prompting their December appeal to the Fire Commission for immediate action.

Park concluded by discussing the two-phase budget structure, acknowledging that while additional funding was planned, the initial allocation created a critical gap in resources. “If you look at the first tranche of the budget and you compare it to the entirety of last year, yes, it’s less, but there was another tranche on the way, but, unfortunately, there was a gap that led to operational impacts. That means there weren’t enough bodies or resources to do what needed to be done. But we had that knowledge back in December and Chief Crowley has been very consistent in her message about that from day one, and nothing that she has said since January 7 has changed.”