LAFD aircraft grounded due to wind

AlArabiya English

The Los Angeles Fire Department had to ground its aircraft in the fight against wildfires as the winds are too strong, the fire department’s spokesperson Margaret Stewart says.   #LosAngeles #LosAngelesWildfires

Transcript

00:00Okay so clearly a huge challenge for firefighters. I gather your teams are

00:05using aircraft to sort of to douse the flames. I mean are they being

00:10effective? Are the fires showing any signs of being contained at this stage?

00:15Well unfortunately the winds are so extreme that we're not, our aircraft

00:21were grounded as of about between 7 and 8 p.m. last night. We have winds

00:27gusting over 80 miles per hour which is hurricane force winds and it grounds our

00:33rotary wing and fixed wing aircraft. We're hoping the fixed wing have a

00:38higher threshold for winds. They're able to fly in more severe winds than our

00:43helicopters can. So we're hoping the fixed wing will be able to get up this

00:46morning but the winds are not forecasted to improve. They're going to be sustained

00:52which will likely keep our helicopters on the ground and that's what makes this

00:57so difficult because a wind-driven fire like this we can't just stop it on the

01:02ground. We need the air support. So our priority is protecting life and

01:07defending structures to our best of our ability.

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