{"id":39214,"date":"2025-03-03T02:04:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-03T08:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=39214"},"modified":"2025-03-03T04:56:52","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T10:56:52","slug":"la-wildfires-what-text-messages-sent-to-and-from-la-fire-chief-during-blaze-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=39214","title":{"rendered":"LA wildfires: What text messages sent to and from LA fire chief during blaze show"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Late at night on Jan. 6, Los Angeles<\/a> Emergency Management Department General Manager Carol Parks sent a text message wishing Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley a happy new year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s my first opportunity to send this Public Safety leadership text,\u201d Parks wrote. \u201cWishing it could have been on a blue sky day, but duty now calls.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following day, Los Angeles would witness the start of what would become the worst wildfire in city history, destroying large swaths<\/a> of the Pacific Palisades area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot good,\u201d Los Angeles County Fire Chief Tony Marrone texted at 11:18 a.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Crowley responded.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost immediately after the Palisades fire began spreading through the Westside of Los Angeles in January, questions were raised about how city leaders prepared for the disaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early on, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass faced scrutiny<\/a> over her decision to continue with a diplomatic trip to Ghana before the fires broke out, while Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley told<\/a> local TV station KTTV<\/a> that previous municipal budget cuts “did impact our ability to provide [firefighting] service.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It was a mistake to travel, but I will tell you that we need to evaluate everything,” Bass later told<\/a> KABC-TV. “Because, honest and truly, if I had all of the information that I needed to have, the last thing I would have done was to be out of town.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ABC News previously reported<\/a> that although the LAFD’s budget saw a $17.5 million budget cut in May 2024, the measure occurred while fire employee union contract negotiations were underway. Once the contract was approved, the department’s budget increased from $819.6 million to $895.6 million. The exact impact of the 2024 budget matters remains unclear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last month, Bass announced she was removing Crowley as fire chief, criticizing decisions she said the department made under Crowley\u2019s leadership, including not keeping<\/a> some 1,000 firefighters on extra duty as their shift ended in the hours before the Palisades fire broke out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crowley subsequently issued<\/a> a statement defending her lengthy career with the LAFD, noting in part that “as the Fire Chief, I based my actions and decisions on taking care of our firefighters so that they could take care of our communities.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, hundreds of files linked to the Palisades fire response released by the EMD and LAFD to KABC-TV and ABC News this week through public records requests are providing new insight about what local officials were discussing before, during and after the blaze tore through neighborhoods.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The records, which include text messages from Crowley’s phone and city government reports, show how officials first started to realize how bad things were getting and that the windswept blazes had the upper hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the text exchange on Jan. 6, Parks, the Emergency Management Department director, informed Crowley that Los Angeles Emergency Operations Center would be “activated at Level 3 (lowest level with EMD staff)” the next day.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Should conditions necessitate us elevating the EOC status, the three of us will need to remain in close contact,” Parks wrote, an apparent reference to Crowley and Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crowley responded in part, “I’ll be available to discuss any necessary actions with the both of you if the need arises.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An EMD city leadership briefing dated Jan. 6 commented on the next day’s weather forecast for Los Angeles: \u201cThis windstorm event could lead to potentially life-threatening and destructive impacts similar in magnitude to the 2011 Pasadena windstorm.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAny fires that develop during this period may experience rapid growth and extreme behavior,\u201d the briefing added, noting that the LAFD was expected to pre-deploy resources on Jan. 7 and that community emergency response teams would be activated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next morning, in the hours after sunrise, text messages show that Los Angeles City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson\u2019s office had reached out to the LAFD \u201cabout the weather event.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harris-Dawson had been serving as acting mayor<\/a> since Bass traveled to Ghana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I briefed him on our deployment in our preparation efforts. Also our needs for additional resources,” LAFD Deputy Chief Jason Hing told Crowley in a text message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In another text, sent to Battalion Chief Patrick Leonard at 9:04 a.m., Crowley asks him to direct another staff member to “reach out to the appropriate Council Offices to ensure that they are proper[ly] informed about our preparedness for the weather event.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As fires started to break out in Los Angeles<\/a> just under an hour and a half later, the text messages showed concerns growing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 10:33 a.m., Chief Deputy Orin Saunders texted Crowley an LAFD alert showing that a brush fire had broken out in the Pacific Palisades area.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Two brush fires in the city. Palisades and Hollywood,” Crowley wrote to someone at 10:35 a.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSending over staff now,\u201d she texted Parks minutes later. \u201cI would recommend level 2,” indicating an increase in resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parks responded, \u201cEOC staff have some concerns now that we have two fires.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 10:58 a.m., videos posted on social media already showed plumes of smoke dangerously close to residential blocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 11:27 a.m., Crowley sent a message to an individual asking for “Harris-Dawson\u2019s number please.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I just asked him for his phone number and he said he will call you,\u201d the recipient responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six minutes later, Parks wrote to Crowley, \u201cThe EOC is in need of leadership. Pls advise who from your department can respond to the EOC asap,\u201d with Crowley responding that a chief was en route.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Voluntary evacuation orders in the Palisades area were issued at 11:44 a.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Anything else you can send us, we will take it,” Crowley wrote to fire officials in neighboring counties at 12:02 p.m. “Star[t]ing to [lose] home[s] and people trapped.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 2:27 p.m., Crowley texted a fire official, “Can you send me the number \u2026 of resources and type assigned to the palisades incident?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, according to videos posted to social media, cars had already been abandoned alongside busy roads.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 3 p.m., Crowley received a text stating, \u201cMarqueece here Chief. At command post, eager to connect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hours later at 5:54 p.m., California Governor Gavin Newsom posted on social media<\/a> that he had declared a state of emergency to support communities impacted by the Palisades fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 6:18 p.m. in Altadena, which is across Los Angeles County from the Pacific Palisades area and outside of city limits, the Eaton fire began, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eight minutes later, the LAFD posted on social media<\/a> that all off-duty LAFD members needed to call the Department Operations Center “with their availability for recall.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 7:19 p.m., Parks, the emergency manager, texted, “EOC Directors are recommending that we move to Level 1,” adding that the Level 1 status — the highest level of emergency management — would start the next morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 7:22 p.m., Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Chief Executive Officer Janisse Qui\u00f1ones asked Crowley if “we can safely access this point,” adding that “we got evacuated before installing a reg station” and that otherwise “we will run out of water in about 2 hours.”<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Department of Water and Power is currently facing a lawsuit from Pacific Palisades residents<\/a> alleging that it was unprepared for a fire of this sort. The agency previously told ABC News that it does not comment on pending litigation, but issued a statement before the lawsuit was filed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The water system serving the Pacific Palisades area and all of Los Angeles meets all federal and state fire codes for urban development and housing,” the statement said. “LADWP built the Pacific Palisades water system beyond the requirements to support the community’s typical needs.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Palisades fire would not be fully contained until the end of the month. By that time, it had burned more than 23,000 acres. The Eaton Fire had torn through 14,000 acres. Entire neighborhoods were reduced to rubble and 29 people were dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the days after the Palisades fire first broke out, Crowley received numerous messages of support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Getting mixed news reports about your future employment. If you need expert testimony in the future or simply a Jersey Guy to come out there and straighten things out with the pols, you have my number,\u201d an unidentified individual texted on Jan. 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGood to hear from you,\u201d Crowley responded. \u201cI have not been fired. Thanks for looking out for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bass went on to\u00a0fire Crowley on Feb. 21<\/a>. Crowley, who opted to take a civil service demotion to a lower rank, is\u00a0appealing her dismissal<\/a>. The Los Angeles City Council is expected to discuss the personnel matter on Tuesday. The council can override Bass\u2019 move to terminate the chief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

abcnews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Late at night on Jan. 6, Los Angeles Emergency Management Department General Manager Carol Parks sent a text message wishing Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley a happy new year. \u201cIt’s my first opportunity to send this Public Safety leadership text,\u201d Parks wrote. \u201cWishing it could have been on a blue sky day, but duty now […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":39215,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1154],"tags":[3749,24783,5395],"class_list":["post-39214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending","tag-la","tag-sent","tag-text"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=39214"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39216,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39214\/revisions\/39216"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/39215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=39214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=39214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=39214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}