LAFD Chief Gives Blunt Response When Asked If City Failed Her And The Department

They're still dealing with chaos in Los Angeles as wildfires have already torn through thousands of homes, and now, the Los Angeles Fire Department's chief is tearing into the city.

There's no denying that the leadership at the city and state level has been horrendous during this tragedy, and you know it's really starting to get bad when you see folks in charge turning on each other and that's what we're seeing from Chief Kristin Crowley.

Crowley was speaking to Fox 11 Los Angeles when she was asked if the City of Los Angeles had failed her and the fire department.

At first, Crowley tried to take the diplomatic approach.

"It's my job to stand up as a chief and exactly say, justifiably, what the fire department needs to operate to meet the demands of the community.."

Crowley was asked a second time by reporter Gigi Graciette if the city had failed her and the department and the diplomatic facade started to disappear a little bit.

"That is our job, and, I'll tell you, that's why I'm here, so let's get us what we need so our firefighters can do their jobs."

Graciette asked the same question again and that's when Crowley went the blunt route.

"Yes," she said, before answering a follow-up question about the Santa Ynez Reservoir that was empty, leaving the fire department without millions of gallons of water they could have used to fight these wildfires.

Crowley has been one of several fire department leaders who have been lambasted for being "DEI" hires, which true or not, isn't really her fault. If someone offers you a good gig, you're going to take it.

Still, that doesn't make her immune from criticism, especially if she is over her head, but kudos to her for saying what needed to be said so that she could do her job, which is making sure that her firefighters can do their jobs.

The post-mortem on how this tragedy has been handled remains to be seen, but we already know leadership — or lack thereof — will be the biggest talking point, because the reaction from the likes of Governor Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass — as well as President Biden who tried to downplay criticism of their response — has been abysmal, and now it seems Chief Crowley is willing to publicly agree with that.