Some text messages have come to light showing how Los Angeles officials, including the now-former fire chief Kristin Crowley, coordinated the response to the Palisades Fire.
The text messages were obtained by NBC Los Angeles. One of the text messages is from L.A. City Emergency Manager Carol Parks and was sent to Crowley and LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell on Jan. 7. Parks writes that “the City’s EOC will be activated at Level 3 (lowest level withEMD staff) beginning at 0800 hours tomorrow and for the duration of this adverse weatherevent.”
“Should conditions necessitate us elevating the EOC status, the three of us will need to remain in close contact,” she added.
Both Crowley and McDonnell stated they would be available to talk the next day. Text messages from 6:38 PM that same day also show Crowley recommended that EOC be at level 2. When Parks texted that EOC needed leadership, Crowley responded that Chief Sauners would be on his way.
There were also text messages from the CEO of DWP, residents, and former co-workers and colleagues.
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There was also a text message from a battalion chief after Crowley did a TV interview and blamed budget cuts for the fire department's response to the Palisades fire.
These messages come a couple weeks after Mayor Karen Bass announced Crowley was removed as fire chief. Crowley is expected to go before L.A. City Council on Tuesday to appeal her termination.
Neil Steffen, whose mother's house went up in flames in the Palisades Fire, told KNX News' Jon Baird he doesn't like the finger-pointing.
"Overall, I thought the fire response from my perspective was about as good as humanly possible, and the only real complaint I had was there wasn't a better plan to get everybody out who needed to get out as quickly as they did," he said.
Alexandra Von Tiergarten, who also lost her home, said Crowley's firing looks like "a blame game for Karen Bass to save her job," but there appeared to be "fault on both sides."
"I think that they should have positioned fire trucks in the Palisades," she said. "And I think that there should have been, you know, more resources that particular day. I don't think people should have been sent home."
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