They're starting to throw each other under the bus. California Gov. Gavin Newsom made time during the wildfires to join the Obama bros "Pod Save America" podcast, where he refused to accept culpability for the out-of-control fires burning Los Angeles County. Newsom just wants to determine the facts, but he's been being told different stories, which means someone's lying to him.
And then there's Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. As we reported earlier, the mayor called in the fire chief for at ense emergency meeting, where she expected to be fired (but wasn't).
Is the Los Angeles fire chief giving him bad information? Fire Chief Kristin Crowley spoke to a local Fox News affiliate and, after some wearing down, admitted that yes, the City of Los Angeles failed the fire department.
JUST IN: Los Angeles Fire Department chief Kristin Crowley turns on Los Angeles leadership, says they failed her.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 10, 2025
Remarkable interview.
Crowley called out the city for having no water in the Santa Ynez Reservoir.
Reporter: "Did the city of Los Angeles fail you and your… pic.twitter.com/fUQPoW32QA
… Reporter: "Did the city of Los Angeles fail you and your department?"
Crowley: "It's my job to stand up as a chief and exactly say what the fire department needs."
Reporter: "Did they fail you?"
Crowley: "Yes."
They're turning on each other.
She says this knowing that Bass cut the department's budget by nearly $18 million. And as we reported, just last month, Crowley sent a letter to Bass telling her that cutting the budget "severely limited the department's capacity to prepare for, train for, and respond to large-scale emergencies, including wildfires." For her part, Bass flew back from Ghana to deal with the catastrophe and assured a CBS News reporter that now is "not the time" to talk about who failed whom.
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Crowley also threw the Department of Water and Power under the bus saying it was their responsibility to ensure there was water flowing to the fire hydrants. Here's Janisse Quinones, head of the Department of Water and Power, who was recommended by Bass and makes $750,000 a year.
BREAKING: JANISSE QUINONES is the New Head of L.A. Department of WATER and Power.
— Ann Vandersteel™️ (@annvandersteel) January 9, 2025
She was recommended to the position by Mayor Karen Bass back in May 2024.
She makes $750,000 a year — nearly TWICE as much as her MALE predecessor.
And almost ONE year later, LA is OUT OF WATER… pic.twitter.com/bGYTgUu1xE
A DEI hire, perhaps?
Literally everyone saw this coming.
— Jeff Carlson (@themarketswork) January 10, 2025
This was so predictable.
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 10, 2025
They’re going to start destroying each other.
— Buzz Patterson (@BuzzPatterson) January 10, 2025
Good. It will be better for the city in the long run.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 10, 2025
The blame game is starting.
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) January 10, 2025
Did the city fail her? Yes. Did she fail the people of the city? Yes.
So the fire department cheif doesnt think it’s her job to make sure there was water in the fire hydrants before hand, even after we got a wind warning days in advance? This is remarkable, classic deflection… “oh that’s not my job “
— Meow (@Adam64396134955) January 10, 2025
The firefighters are not the problem, they don’t have their tools. Unless she approved sending their tools to Ukraine then she is the problem.
— Faxan (@FaxanFM) January 10, 2025
— AdamInHTownTX (@AdamInHTownTX) January 11, 2025
Once again the LAFD is blaming the victims. Horrible.
— Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) January 10, 2025
She knows someone has to take the blame and she is getting ahead of the blame game, Collin. Bass and Newsom weren’t going to take responsibility and she knows that.
— Burt Macklin (@BurtMaclin_FBI) January 10, 2025
You all failed each other. You’re all failures.
— The Stealthy Stethoscope 🩺🇺🇸 (@Stealthoscope) January 10, 2025
It was all failure, all the way from the governor's office down to the fire department.
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