LA Mayor removes fire chief over handling of wildfires

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has removed Fire Chief Kristin Crowley for her handling of the wildfires in January that killed at least 29 people and destroyed more than 13,000 structures, the mayor said in a statement.

Ms Bass said in her statement that Ms Crowley sent home 1,000 firefighters on the day the fires broke out and that she had refused to do an after-action report on the blazes.

"These require her removal. The heroism of our firefighters - during the Palisades fire and every single day - is without question. Bringing new leadership to the fire department is what our city needs," she said.

The move comes after obvious tensions between the two women even as flames raged in Pacific Palisades and Altadena.

There was sharp criticism over the firefight, particularly in the tony Pacific Palisades area, where hydrants ran dry because of huge demands on the system.

The wildfires led to thousands of people being evacuated from their homes, with millions of the dollars worth of property being destroyed.

'Understaffed and underfunded'

Just days after the wind-driven fires broke out, Ms Crowley blindsided city bosses by telling a local television interviewer that Los Angeles had failed her department, describing it as understaffed and underfunded.

"My message is the fire department needs to be properly funded," Ms Crowley told Fox television's local network. "It's not."

An appearance on national television compounded the rift when she told CNN that budget cuts had directly affected her ability to fight the mammoth fires.

Hours later, Ms Bass hauled Ms Crowley in for a closed-door meeting that ran so late that Ms Bass missed a scheduled news briefing.

The next time the two women stood together at a press conference, tensions were evident, despite pledges that they were on the same page.

Ms Bass's move comes after weeks of criticism levelled at her.

The former US congresswoman has frequently been the target of residents' ire, after a flat-footed response to the fires, which broke out while she was in Ghana.

Earlier this week, Ms Bass sought to frame her decision to travel abroad as the result of partial information Ms Crowley had provided to her.

In television interviews she said she would not have gone if she had been given enough warning about the severity of the weather, a responsibility she indicated had rested with Ms Crowley.