Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass fires Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said on Friday that she has dismissed Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley, blaming her reaction to last month's disastrous wildfires, which were among the most destructive in California history.

Bass stated on Friday that she dismissed Crowley because firemen were sent home instead of being dispatched when the flames broke out last month.

Bass said the chief’s removal was “in the best interests of Los Angeles’ public safety, and for the operations of the Los Angeles Fire Department.”

"We know that 1,000 firefighters that could have been on duty on the morning the fires broke out were instead sent home on Chief Crowley’s watch," Bass said in a statement.  "Furthermore, a necessary step to an investigation was the President of the Fire Commission telling Chief Crowley to do an after action report on the fires.  The chief declined.  These require her removal."

The mayor stated that Crowley's dismissal is effective immediately.

Bass has named former Chief Deputy Ronnie Villanueva, a 41-year department veteran, as the acting fire chief.

“I pledge to the mayor, our firefighters and to the people of Los Angeles is that the Los Angeles City Fire Department will be prepared,” Villanueva said at the news conference with Bass Friday afternoon.

Since January 7, the devastating Palisades and Eaton fires have killed 29 people and destroyed over 37,000 acres, upending the lives of many who were abruptly relocated after being forced to evacuate or left with just the remnants of their homes and family memories.