The former Tonight Show host Jay Leno is stepping up to help the frontline workers battling the Los Angeles wildfires in a touching way.
Really, in the way Jay Leno best can – by mustering one of the working vehicles in his famous collection.
Leno Steps Up
As the wildfires rage on, Leno, 74, was spotted driving his 1941 American laFrance fire truck to deliver food to first responders. He flashed a peace sign while driving his vintage red truck as he wore a red flannel jacket.
“We’re cooking for the crew and, well, you guys, if you’re hungry. We got a big barbecue going,” Leno told CNN. “And because they’re all getting boxed lunches, we figured, let’s get some hot food.”
“It’s good to have your own fire truck if you live in L.A.,” he added with a laugh.
Leno went on to say that the day before, his team cooked food for the crew gathering at the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena. He plans to hit up “some of the other locations” in the next few days.
Isn’t he the best? Besides the food, many people were probably happy just to see a working firetruck.
Related: Dick Van Dyke, 99, Defiantly Refuses To Evacuate Home Amidst Wildfires
‘Unbelievable’ Damage
When asked about the damage that the wildfires have done, Leno admitted that “it’s unbelievable.”
“It is 10,000 buildings. Even if you drove all day, you couldn’t see 10,000,” Leno lamented. “You get on that hill and you look for miles, and there’s nothing. It looks like Hiroshima or just some horrible thing.”
That being said, Leno believes that the wildfires have brought a “sense of community” to LA – a city that’s typically made up of transplants from elsewhere. He even compared the response to that of the September 11th attacks.
“The last time, I remember, was 9/11. President Bush, we all got together and the sense of community,” Leno explained. “For three or four days, everybody put aside their political beliefs and who’s on your lawn on a sign, and all that nonsense. It’s happening here today. I mean, it’s a shame, that’s what it takes.”
Even so, Leno described the devastation as being like “an entire city wiped out.”
“Pacific Palisades, it doesn’t exist and probably won’t exist for the next five, six years,” Leno concluded. “I don’t know how you rebuild this. It’s $160 billion, there’s no insurance company in the world that has that much money. The problems will be insurmountable, but we’ll get through it. We always do.”
Find out more about this in the video below.
Devastating Wildfires
The first wildfire started in the Pacific Palisades on January 7. It has since displaced over 80,000 people. As of this writing, at least 25 people have lost their lives to the wildfires.
Celebrities who have lost their homes to the wildfires include Mel Gibson, Billy Crystal, Anna Faris, Anthony Hopkins, John Goodman, Miles Teller, Ricki Lake, Cary Elwes, Cameron Mathison, Milo Ventimiglia, Spencer Pratt, and Heidi Montag.
Paris Hilton said that she is “heartbroken beyond words” after her home burned down. Indeed, she watched it burn to the ground on live television amidst news coverage.
“While the loss is overwhelming, I’m holding onto gratitude that my family and pets are safe,” she wrote on Instagram. “My heart and prayers are going out to every family affected by these fires … To know so many are waking up today without the place they called home is truly heartbreaking.”
God bless Leno for stepping up to help the frontline workers battling the wildfires. Please join us in saying a prayer for all those impacted by these blazes!
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