The stereotype of lesbians always being prepared for an emergency — everyone knows a queer woman who doesn’t leave the house without a Leatherman multitool and carabiners — holds true for Los Angeles’ first openly LGBTQ+ Fire Chief Kristin Crowley who is overseeing the firefighters trying to stop the Palisades fire.
As of Wednesday morning, more than 5,000 acres in the affluent celebrity-inhabited neighborhood of Pacific Palisades in southern California has been consumed by fire, with approximately 1,000 structures and coastal homes reduced to rubble.
The fire is being called “one of the most destructive firestorms to hit the region in memory” by the LA Times and has already carved a path of destruction along the Pacific Coast Highway.
As the Palisades fire ravages the wealthy area, three other fires are also devastating Los Angeles County and have led to the death of two people, and fire hydrants in the area have run dry, the LA Times reports.
This has led to Crowley facing growing backlash on social media, where conservatives are taking cheap digs at her appearance and are claiming she’s a “DEI hire” and isn’t qualified for the position.
But Crowley already had multiple decades of experience when she was nominated for her position in 2022. She had been with the fire department for 22 years and had held the positions of firefighter, paramedic, engineer, fire inspector, captain, battalion chief, assistant chief, fire marshal, and deputy chief. She also ranked in the top 50 out of 16,000 applicants when she took her firefighters exam in the late ‘90s, according to Newsweek.
Becoming the first LGBTQ+ fire chief wasn’t even the first time Crowley made history; back in 2016, she also became Los Angeles’ first female fire marshal.
Conservative actor James Woods has also expressed his frustration with Crowley, taking a jab at her LAFD bio, which lists her priorities as “creating, supporting, and promoting a culture that values diversity, inclusion, and equity while striving to meet and exceed the expectations of the communities.”
Woods took to X (formerly Twitter) to voice his opinion. “Refilling the water reservoirs would have been a welcome priority, too, but I guess she had too much on her plate promoting diversity,” he wrote.
The Santa Ana winds in the area have reached nearly 100 mph, which has spread the fire farther and faster and is only made worse by the lack of rain the region got this winter, extending the Southern California fire season.
“We are absolutely not out of danger yet,” Crowley said, adding that “these fires are stretching the capacity of emergency services to the maximum limits.”
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