LOS ANGELES, Jan 12 — Los Angeles city and fire officials put on a united front yesterday following reports of a furious row over the handling of devastating wildfires raging throughout the city.

In an at-times tense press conference, Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass denied a report that she had been planning to fire Los Angeles City Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley.

Crowley, standing alongside Bass, meanwhile said the city’s political leaders, fire and police departments were "all on the same page” as they battled the devastating infernos that have left at least 11 people dead.

Crowley had appeared to direct a barb at city leaders on Friday when she said her department was underfunded.

"My message is the fire department needs to be properly funded,” Crowley told Fox television’s local network. "It’s not.”

Hours later, Crowley met Bass in a private meeting at city hall which ran so late that Bass was forced to miss a scheduled news briefing. The Daily Mail later reported on its website that Bass had fired Crowley.

Yet Bass and Crowley denied the reported rift as they stood alongside Los Angeles Police Department chief Jim McDonnell.

"As you see here, the chief and I are lockstep in our number one mission, and that mission is to get us past this emergency,” Bass told reporters.

"We want to make sure that we save lives, we save housing, we save businesses, and if there are differences that we have, we will continue to deal with those in private.”

Asked if she had been planning to fire Crowley, Bass replied emphatically: "No.”

Crowley reiterated that the city’s leaders were united as they battle the disaster.

"We are both focused on our urgent needs to mitigate these devastating wildfires, our top priority remains saving lives and protecting property,” Crowley said.

Bass insisted that the city’s fire department would be given all resources necessary to combat the flames.

"If Chief Crowley calls me and tells me this is what we need, then that’s what we’ll do,” she said.