Text messages sent to and from former LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley leading up to LA County’s disastrous wildfires and the weeks after show the coordination and direction from multiple agencies to protect residents to their best abilities.
On the evening of Jan. 6, LA City Emergency Manager Carol Parks sent Crowley and LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell a text just after 9 p.m. that the city would open its emergency operations center (EOC) at a level 3, or the lowest level, of staffing in wake of anticipated high winds and dangerously dry conditions. Roughly 13 hours later, Pacific Palisades began to burn, followed by a series of other smaller fires and a larger brush fire in Altadena. The Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire both ballooned to burn more than 37,000 acres together.
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SIGN UP When a level 3 EOC is activated, emergency personnel are prepared to respond if the occasion arises. It’s typically a step above what normal operations look like in anticipation of potential dangers. The days leading up to LA County’s deadly brush fires promised dangerous weather conditions, with meteorologists warning of strong Santa Ana winds coupled with low humidity.
As flames ripped through several communities in the region, Crowley followed up with Parks at about 10:38 a.m. that same day, directing her to escalate matters to a Level 2 EOC, texts show. Just before 7:30 p.m., the evening of Jan. 7, Parks asked the former fire chief to consider moving things to Level 1 EOC staffing the next morning as conditions continued to worsen and firefighters struggled to get a handle on the fire, to which Crowley agreed.
Firefighters faced several challenges with the fast-moving fires in Pacific Palisades and Altadena. Things were made more difficult with crews stretched thin as other brush fires popped up throughout the Southland.
Almost simultaneously, Janisse Quiñones, CEO and Chief Engineer of the LA Department of Water and Fire, asked Crowley at 7:22 p.m. on Jan. 7 if workers from her team could have access to an address in the 16800 block of Charmel Lane in Pacific Palisades. Quiñones said they “got evacuated before installing a reg station” and warned that if teams were unable to gain access, they would “run out of water in about 2 hours.”
The department is now the subject of a state investigation looking into water system failure. Pacific Palisades residents were furious that water supplies and some hydrants ran dry after hours of firefighting.
In addition to coordination before and after the fires began, the texts obtained by NBC 4 showed support to Crowley sent by residents, former coworkers, and colleagues.
“You killed it!! So proud of you holding your ground,” a text from LAFD Battalion Chief Nikki Brodowy read. Way to go Chief! Glad to see you Throw the politics out the door!”
Brodowy sent that message Jan. 10 in reference to Crowley’s televised interview in which she criticized the city’s budget cuts she said made it harder for firefighters to adequately respond to the fires. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said that the budget cuts did not have an impact on the LAFD’s response.
Following weeks of tension among LA city leaders and pointed fingers, Bass announced that Crowley was terminated from her position as chief of LAFD last month. Crowley has since continued working with the department at a lower rank.
Crowley announced she will appeal her termination and plead her case on Tuesday before the City Council. She needs 10 council members to side with her to be reinstated.
"These documents show that in the day leading up to the fires, Chief Crowley was not in text contact with the Mayor or any member of her staff regarding the coming weather event until after the fires had already broken out. Before other major weather emergencies, the Mayor—or at minimum, the Mayor’s Chief of Staff— has received a direct call from the Fire Chief, flagging the severity of the situation. This time, that call never came," wrote the mayor's office in response to the texts.
