Wildfires have devastated the Los Angeles area. Many have taken to helping the victims of the fire both in person and online by doing things most reasonable people would do, like donating or offering words of support. However, the same can’t be said for everyone. Since this awful situation is happening specifically in California, the keyboard warriors are out in full effect, spreading false information and conspiracies. One of the most prevalent involves California turning away firetrucks from Oregon because of emissions regulations. This is a blatant lie.
The rumor was started online by right-wing social media influencers, CBS News reported. According to these idiots, Oregon fire officials, wanting to help their neighboring state California, sent dozens of firetrucks to the state to help only for them to be turned away by California state officials because the trucks didn’t comply with the state’s strict emission regulations. Depending on how deep down the rabbit hole you go, the details of this falsehood vary.
Some versions say that there were 60 trucks total with each truck carrying 4,000 gallons of water. Other versions say that the trucks were on their way to California by way of Arizona and Washington, not Oregon. Nearly all of them have one thing in common: the people repeating the lie nearly always heard it from someone else. In a post that has since been deleted, one user on X tweeted that he heard it from his brother who just so happens to be a firefighter in Oregon.
Another X user made a whole video repeating the lie, saying that she heard it from “her friend’s company” who had purchased some of the trucks being turned away last year and that California officials were requiring “$8,000 worth of equipment” to be added to the trucks so they could be emissions compliant. Anyway you cut it, these are all slices from the same bullshit pie.
Now, officials are pushing back against the claims as CBS News reported. Agencies like CalFire:
Cal Fire debunked that claim that has widely circulated on social media, stating that “no vehicles from out of state have been turned around or refused service.” The agency said any vehicles or resources that come in from out of state are subject to inspections to make sure they’re ready for use, but this is not emissions testing.
The office of California Governor Gavin Newsom:
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office also refuted the claims, noting that vehicles undergo a “15 minute safety and equipment inspection” to ensure there are no issues. He added that by the time the false claims started spreading, “the Oregon firefighting teams were already in the Los Angeles area battling the blazes.”
Even Oregon fire officials have pushed back:
The office of the Oregon State Fire Marshal also addressed the rumors, saying all Oregon teams deployed to Southern California began working their shifts last Friday as planned. The OSFM said the safety checks helped ensure that their equipment, which “does not regularly travel hundreds of miles at a time,” was safe for their firefighters to use.
The sad part about this is that among all the devastation that has happened, this isn’t even one of the wildest claims that have come out since the fires began as The Economic Times pointed out. From AI-generated videos showing things like the Hollywood sign on fire and firefighters fighting the blaze with women’s purses to claims that the fires were started intentionally to cover up evidence about P. Diddy and his wild mansion parties, CBS News says California state officials and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have been working hard to keep false information and rumors about the fires from spreading.