A delegation of Israeli firefighting experts spent a week in California helping American crews combat the Palisades inferno, and one member of the team described the experience as an “honor” and an opportunity to give back. 

Li-shay Amor, a 34-year-old Israeli firefighter, arrived in Los Angeles last week with a team of other fire experts from her country who worked alongside local units and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services using “advanced Israeli technology to help contain the fires,” the Israeli consulate in Los Angeles said in a statement on X. 

“It doesn’t matter if you live in Los Angeles, if you live in Miami, if you live in Tel Aviv or in Jerusalem. We are all human beings. We need to be together. We need to help each other,” Amor told Fox News Digital in an interview. 

Fire engulfs a building as the Palisades Fire burns during a windstorm on the west side of Los Angeles Jan. 8, 2025.  (Reuters/Ringo Chiu)

Both Amor and Goldstein mentioned the significance of the similar landscapes in Israel and California. 

“The terrain is identical,” Goldstein said. “If you go to most places in Israel, it pretty much looks like that area.”

Amor explained that she grew up in Haifa, where, like in parts of Los Angeles, the location includes mountains, the beach and houses perched between trees. She then described a 2016 fire in Haifa, which forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes and said her “knowledge” from that disaster allowed her to come to Los Angeles “to help and to support.” 

On her long flight home to Israel, Amor reflected on her time volunteering in Los Angeles and the brave people on the ground in LA, fighting and risking their lives every day. 

“My only thought was, ‘Wow, what an amazing world we all live in,'” she said. “What amazing firefighters. What amazing people.”