How to Help Los Angeles Firefighters? Donate to the LAFD Foundation, Chief Says

LAFD Firefighter Allen Janzen puts down smoldering embers in the Bel-Air to protect home against the Skirball Fire, Dec. 6, 2017. (Credit: ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

by: Melissa Pamer

Posted: Dec 7, 2017 / 02:35 PM PST

Updated: Dec 7, 2017 / 02:43 PM PST

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As questions from across the country pour in about how to support firefighting efforts in Southern California, Los Angeles’ fire chief has an answer.

Donate to the LAFD Foundation, he said.

“We use that to purchase tools and equipment for our firefighters,” Chief Ralph Terrazas said Thursday morning. “That is the best way to donate.”

Details about the foundation – and a link to donate – can be found at supportlafd.org. The foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, was founded in 2010.

“We provide vital private funding for the LAFD where the city’s budget ends,” the foundation’s website states.

In May, the department said it planned to use foundation funds to purchase a set of six drones with cameras, the Los Angeles Times reported at the time. Terrazas said Thursday LAFD would deploy those drones for the first time, using them to find hot spots and do property damage assessments at the 12,605-acre Creek Fire in the mountains above Sylmar and Lake View Terrace.