By Fedor Zarkhin
oregonlive.com
SALEM, Ore. — No Oregon fire trucks have been turned away or delayed from helping fight the wildfires in Los Angeles due to emissions tests — despite what many people have read on social media, California and Oregon officials have reiterated.
Rumors spread on social media last week that Oregon fire trucks headed for the historic fires were stopped and inspected for emissions levels by California state workers and either delayed or sent back to Oregon as a result. Those rumors prompted officials from both states to address head-on what they have called “misinformation.”
“We want to clear up confusion about our Oregon firefighters and equipment sent to California to help with the wildfires,” the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s office wrote in a statement Sunday. “No engine was turned away.”
The fires in the Los Angeles area have killed at least 24 people, displaced thousands and destroyed more than 24,000 buildings in what could be the nation’s costliest wildfires ever. Fire engines have been coming into the state from across the United States to help the huge firefighting effort as winds threaten to pick up again in the region.
Oregon’s first batch of fire engines left the Beaver State on Jan. 8 and, the following day, were inspected by California’s firefighting agency, CAL Fire, for mechanical safety, not emissions, the Oregon fire marshal’s statement said. All vehicles quickly joined the effort in Southern California.
California is known for its liberal politics, which may have fueled the online rumors about out-of-state fire trucks being sidelined because of California environmental standards.
But fire officials say the apparent trolling isn’t helpful.
“We’re not doing smog or emissions checks on any of the vehicles. It’s just simply safety — to make sure these vehicles that are going into these fires are safe and efficient to operate,” McLean said. “You don’t want a broken-down piece of fire equipment alongside the road.”
Oregon has dispatched 100 fire engines and six water trucks to battle the wildfires, CAL Fire spokesperson Scott McLean told The Oregonian /OregonLive. The point of the inspection is to ensure fire trucks are safe for their occupants and have what they need to fight fires in a dangerous, volatile environment.
The safety-inspection process takes about an hour per truck, on average, McLean said, and mechanics fix any issues that arise on the spot.
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