Weeks Before LA Fires, LA Fire Chief charged with "wildly improper behavior"

quote:

---

Senior fire officials in Los Angeles were involved in a legal battle mere weeks or even days before the deadly wildfires broke out and caused significant damage in the area.

Jenny Park, who formerly worked as fire administrator for the Los Angeles Fire Department, asserted in a legal complaint that LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley unfairly retaliated against her, according to a Wednesday report from the U.K. Daily Mail

Park claimed that Crowley wrongly fired her in December 2023 after she pointed out that Crowley allegedly “failed to repay the city for a significant overpayment she had received in error.”

Martin Aarons, an attorney for Park, told the Daily Mail that Crowley was allegedly paid $37,000 beyond her actual salary.

But when Park, a former deputy city attorney, reminded Crowley about the need to pay back that sum to the city, she was “ghosted,” per the lawyer.

“Chief Crowley got paid a significant amount of money that was an overpayment — thousands of dollars — and, to our knowledge, never repaid that money,” Aarons told the outlet.

“She just refused to do so,” he continued. “Ms. Park would routinely remind her about it and she just ghosted her.”

The legal complaint also asserted that Crowley and LAFD Deputy Chief Orin Saunders targeted Park with intimidation, retaliation, and harassment.

---