Los Angeles, California - Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass fired the city's fire chief on Friday, blaming her for leadership failures in the handling of deadly blazes that tore through the California metropolis in January.

"We know that 1,000 firefighters that could have been on duty on the morning the fires broke out were instead sent home on Chief [Kristen] Crowley's watch," Bass said in a statement.

"Furthermore, a necessary step to an investigation was the president of the Fire Commission telling Chief Crowley to do an after action report on the fires," Bass added.

"The Chief refused. These require her removal."

The move comes after obvious tensions between the two women even as flames raged in Pacific Palisades and Altadena, killing at least 29 people and destroying thousands of buildings.

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

But Bass, a former US congresswoman, was also the target of residents' ire after a flat-footed response to the fires, which first broke out while she was abroad.