Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass recall effort launches

FIRST ON FOX: An effort to recall Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass officially launched its website on Tuesday.

The Democratic mayor faces significant backlash due to her response to the wildfires that burned through the Pacific Palisades in January, including the fact that she was in Ghana despite dangerous fire conditions warnings ahead of time.  

If the recall petition meets the threshold of needed signatures - 15% of Los Angeles registered voters - then a special election would be triggered. The group launching the effort includes people directly impacted by the wildfire and other residents frustrated with crime and homelessness issues plaguing the city, according to a source familiar with the campaign. The source added that there is a bipartisan makeup of the people involved in the effort. 

"Acting in the best interests of Los Angeles' public safety, and for the operations of the Los Angeles Fire Department, I have removed Kristin Crowley as Fire Chief. 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 Crowley's watch," Bass said in a statement last month. 

"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. The Chief refused. These require her removal. The heroism of our firefighters - during the Palisades fire and every single day - is without question. Bringing new leadership to the fire department is what our city needs," she added.

In a recent interview with Fox 11 Los Angeles, Bass said that she was not aware of the potential severity of the fires that burned down thousands of homes and businesses, saying she "felt absolutely terrible not being here."

"It didn't reach that level to me to say, 'Something terrible could happen, and maybe you shouldn't have gone on the trip,'" the Democrat told the outlet. 

"I think that's one of the things we need to look at, everything that happened, including that, needs to be examined," she continued, revealing that there are at least two investigations into the city's response to the fires.

A Change.org petition has over 176,000 signatures asking her to resign as mayor. Still, there has been no indication that Bass would step down voluntarily.

"This recall is nothing more than another extreme right-wing political stunt designed to divide Los Angeles when we need to move forward," Doug Herman, a strategist for Bass, told Fox News Digital in a statement.