Kristin Crowley was elevated to Los Angeles fire chief in 2022 at a time of department turmoil. As a career firefighter, she was portrayed by the then-mayor as a stabilizing force.

Chief Kristin Crowley said during an interview Friday that the city failed the department amid the ongoing wildfires in Southern California that have taken at least 11 lives and burned more than 37,000 acres.

Kristin Crowley, in multiple interviews, drew a connection between budget cuts to her department and the city's struggle to combat the wildfires.

After a meeting so long that Mayor Karen Bass missed her Friday night media briefing on the crisis, Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley emerged still in the job despite blaming the administration's budget cuts for the failure to contain the raging wildfires.