Fact Check: Are Firefighters Using Ladies Purses to Fight Fire? Sure Looks Like It
Since the Greater Los Angeles fires began, speculation and theories about the inferno have spread even faster than the flames themselves.
Take, for instance, the idea that firemen are so under-equipped to battle the fires that they’ve resorted to extinguishing them with water-filled purses.
One clip circulating the internet appears to show just that.
The LA Fire Department uses women’s purses to quell the flames in California (only when they need to). pic.twitter.com/rJtU8fGUQZ
— Dane (@UltraDane) January 10, 2025
No. You aren’t delusional. You are watching LA Firemen fill up women’s purses with water because the fire hydrants are empty. pic.twitter.com/T04xA0ftaG
— 🐎 Stable Genius™️ 🇺🇸 (@StableGeniustm) January 9, 2025
The grainy video makes it easy to understand why there would be confusion.
At first glance, it appears the firemen in the clip are indeed putting out a dumpster fire with purses.
I was wondering why LAFD firemen are using water filled in women’s purses to put out fires
I see the 2nd pic and it all adds up 🤦♂️😭 pic.twitter.com/C75xrO1gvl
— Sameer (@BesuraTaansane) January 9, 2025
But a closer look, and some reporting from TMZ, reveals that isn’t the case.
The “purses” are not purses at all.
They are instead canvas bags that firefighters sometimes use to extinguish smaller flames, like the dumpster fire in the video, the Los Angeles Fire Department told TMZ.
I’m sick of seeing this video! I am a 10-year firefighter with a fire science degree. These are dual-purpose bags used on fire apparatuses as chain or rope bags and can also be used as collapsible water buckets. They are not women’s purses! pic.twitter.com/jHTBChUiKS
— ☘️ℜ𝔢𝔡 𝔚𝔥𝔦𝔱𝔢 & 𝔅𝔩𝔲𝔢 𝔅𝔩𝔬𝔬𝔡𝔢𝔡🇺🇸 (@michael_white00) January 9, 2025
Time is of the essence when it comes to extinguishing a fire.
For a smaller flame, sometimes it’s easier and faster to simply use the canvas bags to douse the fire than to deploy a fire hose.
As of Saturday, firefighters have not yet contained the Palisades, Eaton, or Hurst fires, according to the New York Post.
Collectively, the fires have killed at least 13 people and displaced nearly 200,000 since they started Tuesday.
10,000 structures have been destroyed since the fires began their devastating burn across 35,000 acres.
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