Los Angeles Fires

Does a photo accurately represent the full leadership team at the Los Angeles Fire Department amid the Los Angeles County January 2025 fires? No, that's missing context: The photo posted on social media shows the current fire chief, a deputy chief and a commander from the department, but they are just three of the 14-member leadership team for the department.…

Was the "Hollywood" sign a casualty of the fires burning in Los Angeles County as of January 9, 2025? No, that's not true: When this fact check was written, the sign was "safe and secure," according to the organization that preserves the sign. Media supposedly showing the sign being on fire were likely generated through artificial intelligence or by simple…

Did the Los Angeles Fire Department ask "anyone with firefighting experience" to assist in fighting wildfires in the area on January 7, 2025? No, that's not true: The department said it is "NOT requesting assistance from the public" in a statement on X. On January 7, 2025, it issued a recall for active off-duty department members, with the agency later…

Does exposure to LED lights "disrupt the flow of hydrogen" in the human body, causing harm, as was suggested in a post on Instagram? No, that's not true: The post cited a 2023 study that examined techniques used for water splitting, a green energy industry technology that converts water into hydrogen and oxygen. The findings of this study are unique…

Did a large lightning bolt and strange lights appear in this video right before the earthquake struck Morocco on September 8, 2023? No, that's not true: The video, originally posted on TikTok (archived here) on May 1, 2020, was removed from its original context and a false caption added by someone else. It does not show the moments before the…

Is this a video of the Vermont Beverly metro station in Los Angeles flooding due to the August 20, 2023, "hurriquake"? No, that's not true: This video is of a tram tour/amusement park ride at Universal Studios Hollywood. The tour simulates what an earthquake would feel like if the person was in an underground subway car. In multiple videos of…

Were "several" instigators of BLM rallies and Antifa riots arrested and charged with arson in California and Oregon wildfires? No, that's not true: Federal and local officials have dismissed the claim that left-wing extremists were involved in starting wildfires that have ravaged the northwestern United States in September 2020 and they have asked for an end to the false claims…

Did the wildfires that have ravaged much of the western United States in September 2020 stop at the borders and not impact Mexico and Canada? No, that's not true. The U.S. northern border has been breached with blazes -- while to the south, major fires broke out in summer and appear to continue, according to reports and maps showing blazes…

Did Twitter, Google and YouTube block users from seeing video of an aerial flame-thrower starting wildland fires? No, that's not true: the video has been available on several social media feeds since Aug. 21, 2020. Also, the video shows a large helicopter-mounted fire-starting torch, not a drone with a flame-thrower. The claims appeared Sept. 12, 2020, in a Tweet (archived…

Were 2 million women and children held captive under The Getty Museum in Los Angeles last year? No, that's not true. "These claims are fictitious and dangerous and of course we refute them," Lisa Lapin, vice president of communications, J. Paul Getty Trust, told Lead Stories. A claim has gone viral that the museum has a secret "underground pedophile lair…