Debunked: Did sending aid to Ukraine leave LA Fire Department unprepared?

Did sending aid to Ukraine leave LA Fire Department unprepared?

Transcript

00:00Did sending aid to Ukraine leave the LA Fire Department

00:03without enough equipment to fight these wildfires?

00:07And is that why they're spreading at such an unprecedented rate?

00:10There are not enough fire engines in the world that would enable that to be put out.

00:15People like Donald Trump Jr and Elon Musk have been claiming

00:18that because the LA Fire Department

00:20donated surplus equipment to Ukraine when Russia invaded,

00:24this has now left the LA Fire Department

00:26without enough equipment on the ground right now.

00:29And with this theory gaining millions of clicks online, is there any truth to it?

00:34In 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, a number of communities across the United States,

00:40including in California, donated surplus equipment.

00:44These were things like fire hoses, harnesses,

00:47self-contained breathing apparatus that firemen wear when they enter a building.

00:52But this equipment had nothing to do with the outcome in Los Angeles.

00:57And why are these fires spreading at such an unprecedented rate?

01:01When a wildfire gets going under those types of conditions,

01:05it's more about what is happening in the neighborhoods and immediately around the homes

01:10and the number of simultaneous ignitions.

01:14As soon as you have more than 10 homes burning on a block,

01:17your fire hydrants are going to run dry.

01:19It doesn't matter how much water you have once it gets into the urban environment.

01:23And just like the Great London Fire in the 1660s,

01:27it will take down the entire city and burn until it reaches the Pacific Ocean in this case.

01:32So there you have it.

01:34There is no link between sending surplus equipment in 2022 to Ukraine

01:39and the unprecedented spread of these deadly wildfires.