Former Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley lost an appeal to get her old job back in a hearing Tuesday before the City Council that included the 25-year department veteran’s first extensive public comments about the events that led to her firing.

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday, March 4, voted to uphold former Fire Chief Kristin Crowley’s removal. In a 13-2 vote, the Council voted to deny Crowley’s appeal to get her job back and to support Mayor Karen Bass’s decision to remove her as head of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

L.A.'s first female fire leader fought to contain an unprecedented emergency that threatened the city for weeks.