Jay Leno Feeds L.A. Wildfire First Responders From a Vintage Fire Truck
Amid the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles, with the National Weather Service issuing a new “extremely critical fire weather” warning in Southern California, due to strong winds expected to reach up to 70 mph between Tuesday and Wednesday, first responders and firefighters (including underpaid incarcerated people) continue to work at the front lines. This being L.A., celebrities have pitched in to help where they can. For Jay Leno, that means he’s been driving the most thematically appropriate vintage vehicle in his collection to the sites of firefighting and fire relief to feed the first responders.
In an impromptu interview with Anderson Cooper in the Pacific Palisades January 14, against a backdrop of real, operational fire trucks, Leno said he “drove a 1941 American LaFrance fire truck” to lend his services, and gently joked, “It’s good to have your own fire truck when you live in L.A.” Leno’s been feeding these frontline workers barbecue, because he thought they’d appreciate “a hot meal.” Leno volunteered at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on January 12, and told Cooper that he plans on visiting other locations over the next two or three days.
“It’s unbelievable. It’s the biggest natural disaster, not that 9/11 was a natural disaster, but it’s literally on that scale,” he said. “It’s 10,000 buildings. I mean, if you drove all day you couldn’t see 10,000 buildings.” He also said the devastation “looks like Hiroshima.” Leno added that he’s heartened by the sense of community he’s felt and witnessed, even if “it’s a shame that [a wildfire] is what it takes.”
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