XPost: alt.wildland.firefighting, alt.firefighter.firetrucks, alt.los-angeles XPost: alt.politics.democrats, sac.politics

DAVIS, Calif. — Misinformation about the Southern California wildfires is spreading rapidly, and the Cal Fire Davis Equipment Facility lot is
getting national attention on social media over what inspections happened
there before crews were sent to the Los Angeles County fires.

Every single Cal Fire vehicle starts at the Mobile Equipment Facility in
Davis before being sent to its department to be in service. Cal Fire owns
and operates more than 3,000 vehicles, everything from bulldozers, fire
engines and snow mobiles.

Staff is responsible for design, acquisition, maintenance, major repairs, replacement and disposal of all Cal Fire-owned vehicles They make sure the vehicles going into dangerous situations are safe and not in need of
repair.

But last week their workload grew as fire departments from Idaho,
Washington and Oregon made their way to the Southern California wildfires. Darren Law, the senior forestry equipment manager, says they did a "premobilization inspection."

“It’s a DOT (Department of Transportation) inspection, a safety
inspection. They would pass or fail. If anything failed, we would set them aside and a different team would start on repairs could be brakes, tires, leaks,” Law said.

Law said they inspected 216 assets; 29 needed some sort of repair. Cal
Fire said the average inspection time was 45 minutes.

The most common repairs were new tires and oil leaks. Law said they came
across trucks traveling on 20-year-old tires, or needing a gallon of oil
every 100 miles due to leaks.

“For the most part, everything was out the same day. There were a couple
we had to keep overnight just because we couldn’t get parts,” Law said.

When Cal Fire posted its efforts at the Davis Equipment Facility on Jan.
11, they were met with hundreds of negative comments.

People were upset the checks slowed the response of the out-of-state firefighters to get to the front lines, and others accused Cal Fire of
running emissions tests. Law says those accusations are NOT true.

“Absolutely no emission testing, no emission certifications were looked
at. That is completely false,” Law said.

A social media post also circulated saying Oregon fire trucks were going
to be turned away due to emissions.

"No vehicles were turned away. All of the 216 vehicles we inspected did
make their way down south,” Law said.

Law said only one Idaho vehicle didn't make it to Los Angeles County. The
truck broke down in Tracy due to engine issues, and the Davis facility is
going to pick it up and handle the repair.

The Oregon State Fire Marshal addressed the social media post their trucks
were turned away, reiterating it was false and no trucks were turned away.

“This equipment also does not regularly travel hundreds of miles at a
time. Firefighter safety is our number one priority,” the fire marshal
said.

The Oregon State Fire Marshal (OSFM) also released comments about a
routine safety check before the Cal Fire video was posted.

“The vehicle safety check process was critical for our teams. With moving
this amount of equipment and firefighters, safety has to be our highest priority,” OSFM Agency Administrator Ian Yocum said.

The misinformation spread so quickly Gov. Gavin Newsom addressed it and
other false claims on the California Fire Facts page.

Cal Fire said Davis was selected because it was on the way to Southern California. Also, the average Type-1 Fire Engine usually only travels a
10-mile radius, so these long journeys, sometimes states away, can create issues.

By conducting the inspections in Davis, it relieves the workload on the
ground crew in Los Angeles who were dealing with safety inspections for southern mobilized crews from places like Texas and Colorado and any other service needed.

“We can confidently get them dispatched right away; we don’t want
breakdowns on the fire front. That’s a danger of public safety and
firefighter safety,” Law said.

Cal Fire explained it's all part of the Emergency Management Assistance
Compact Agreement (EMAC). According to their website, EMAC offers
assistance during governor-declared states of emergency or disaster
through a responsive, straightforward system allowing states to send
personnel, equipment and commodities to help with response and recovery
efforts in other states.

Cal Fire said under EMAC, California assumes liability of these vehicles
while they are working in the state; it's why they like to inspect them
for safety. They are also responsible for returning the vehicles in the
same working condition.

“This is the third time we’ve done premobilization inspection in 12
months. We did one for the Dixie Fire,” Law said.

Cal Fire told ABC10 there will be post-incident vehicle inspections before crews return home, but those will most likely happened in Los Angeles and repairs will be made if necessary.

The California Air Resources Board also responded to the rumors, saying it
was misinformation.

"Reports that out-of-state fire engines coming to assist with the Southern California fires were stalled due to emissions inspections are
misinformation. First, public safety vehicles that meet vehicle and safety codes are exempt from emissions inspections. Secondly, the Governor’s
emergency declaration waives other relevant requirements on those vehicles
to expedite response."

https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/wildfire/social-media-rumors-cal- fire-fire-trucks/103-f73a84a6-f36f-4ab3-a1f5-a8176957dbd7?ref=exit-recirc

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