Amid efforts to contain the fiery blazes sweeping through Los Angeles, some internet users called out the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) for donating surplus equipment to Ukraine, implying that the donations have hindered ongoing firefighting efforts.
LAFD has indeed sent surplus equipment to Ukraine, but the suggestion that the donations hampered firefighters working to control the fires burning in and around Los Angeles is baseless.
Responding to a tweet from Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont that blamed the fire on climate change, social media influencer Collin Rugg (who has 1.7 million followers on X) shared a screenshot of a local news story from 2022 that reported on LAFD’s donation. “Then why is the LA County Fire Department donating their supplies to Ukraine?” Rugg asked.
Liz Churchill, a self-described “conspiracy theorist” with nearly 670,000 followers on X, tweeted, “The LA Mayor is in Africa … as she spent their tax dollars funding Fire Departments in Ukraine.”
Meanwhile, Alex Jones—a noted vector of misinformation—equated the donation to treason. “🔥DEMOCRAT TREASON CONFIRMED!🔥” he tweeted. “LA Fire Department Supplies Were Sent To Ukraine Over The Past Two Years.”
The County of Los Angeles Fire Department did ship “surplus equipment and gear” to Ukraine on March 17, 2022—less than a month after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces invaded Ukraine—joining other fire departments across the nation that made similar donations. But Daryl Osby, the Los Angeles County Fire Chief from 2011 to 2022, confirmed to The Dispatch Fact Check that the donated equipment had already been retired from firefighting operations. “These were old items that were no longer in service and had previously been replaced by newer items,” Osby said. And, as ABC 7 Los Angeles reported at the time, the equipment and gear donated by the Los Angeles Fire Department had been “sitting in storage.”
When the Los Angeles Fire Department announced it was joining other fire departments spanning the country in donating surplus equipment to Ukraine, it shared in a press release:
On Thursday, March 17, 2022, the Los Angeles County Fire Department joined Fourth District Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn at Fire Station 171 in the City of Inglewood to announce they would join the national effort to gather and donate surplus equipment and gear overseas to help first responders in the country of Ukraine.
In its fourth week of conflict with Russia, first responders in Ukraine are faced with shortages in supplies to help provide basic emergency services and fire protection to its citizens and communities.
“As Ukrainian firefighters continue to work under extreme peril to remove victims with limited resources, we felt the need to step up and help in some way,” said Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl L. Osby.
Surplus items such as hoses, nozzles, turnouts, helmets, body armor, and other associated personal protective equipment will be collected and sent to assist with the shortage.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn added at the time that the purpose was to aid Ukrainians in a time of emergency. “It is our hope that this equipment will help Ukrainian first responders continue to save lives and help them in some small way to resist the Russian invasion,” Hahn said back in March 2022, per KTLA 5.
An NBC local news station in Washington, D.C., reported in April 2022 that much of the firefighting gear donated from across the U.S. “may not usable” here. “The gear they’re looking for may not be usable in the U.S.,” said NBC 4 news reporter Derrick Ward. “Doesn’t mean it’s not good gear—but it may have expired, and federal regulations say you can’t put it on the street.” He added, “That’s not the case in other cases, like Ukraine.”
And Ukraine is not the only entity that can receive surplus firefighting equipment. The California governor’s office of emergency services has a website listing of various firefighting equipment no longer in use and up for sale. The website page includes contact information and an application form for those interested in purchasing surplus firefighting equipment from the state of California.
The Dispatch Fact Check reached out to the County of Los Angeles Fire Department and Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn for comment.
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