The Los Angeles County Fire Department gave extra equipment to Ukraine as a donation.

Los Angeles has been dealing with severe wildfires this week due to extreme winds and dry weather. The challenging conditions, combined with the number and size of the fires, have made it tough for local firefighters to control the situation.

There have been suggestions on social media that the struggles in containing the wildfires could be linked to a past donation of surplus equipment by the Los Angeles fire department to Ukraine in 2022. This claim gained traction after being highlighted by Donald Trump, Jr.

VERIFY reader John emailed us to ask if the claim is true.

Did a Los Angeles-area fire department donate equipment to Ukraine?

Yes, the Los Angeles County Fire Department donated surplus equipment to Ukraine in March 2022.

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On March 17, 2022, the Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACFD) announced it was donating “surplus” equipment to help first responders in Ukraine.

The surplus equipment consisted of various firefighting gear such as hoses, nozzles, turnouts, helmets, body armor, and other protective items. A report from a local news source when the donation was made mentioned that the equipment had been stored unused for some time.

The LACFD is a different department than the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD). The same local news report said that the LACFD worked with the LAFD and the National Guard to collect the surplus equipment.

While there is some overlap in their jurisdictions, the Los Angeles County Fire Department and the Los Angeles Fire Department serve two slightly different communities. The LACFD serves unincorporated areas of the county and partnered cities in the county, while the LAFD serves just the city of Los Angeles.

While neither the LACFD or the LAFD have mentioned equipment shortages hampering their efforts fighting the January 2025 wildfire outbreak, the LACFD did say that the combined fire departments across the Los Angeles area lacked the personnel necessary to quickly suppress this week’s major wildfires.

“There are not enough firefighters in L.A. County to address four separate fires of this magnitude,” Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said during a Jan. 8 press conference. “The L.A. County Fire Department was prepared for one or two major brush fires, but not four, especially given these sustained winds and low humidities.”

There is currently a fundraising campaign to help the LAFD acquire equipment, but that equipment is not the same type of equipment as what the LACFD said it donated to Ukraine. The campaign seeks to raise money for emergency personal fire shelters, hydration backpacks and wildland brush tools. 

Over the past few years, fire departments across the U.S., Canada and Europe have donated firefighting equipment to Ukraine, which faces increased fire threats due to missile strikes, according to Nova Ukraine, an organization that delivers the equipment.

For example, the San José Fire Department, also in California, announced it was donating equipment to Ukraine in June 2022. Local media reported that several other major fire departments in the San Francisco Bay area also donated equipment that summer.

The LACFD did not respond to a VERIFY request for comment by the time we published the story.