California Wildfire

Did Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and the city council cut the fire department's budget before the January 2025 wildfires? No, that's not true: While the initial 2024-25 budget for the Los Angeles Fire Department reduced spending by about 2 percent, later decisions -- like approving a new labor contract and buying equipment -- actually increased the budget by 7…

Did the Weather Channel show human remains on live TV reporting on California wildfires in January 2025? No, that's not true: The channel denied this, saying it was debris. In response to Lead Stories, its representative shared an image from the same location that showed nothing that would look like a human skeleton. The claim appeared in a post (archived…

If a wildfire destroys cars, must it always destroy nearby trees as well? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found other examples of wildfires sparing trees while nearby cars and houses were incinerated. Experts explain that trees generally have a higher moisture content and take longer to heat up than closed structures like a car or home, making trees less…

Does an authentic photo show a California fire hydrant painted rainbow-colored with a January 2025 wildfire burning in the background? No, that's not true: The image was posted by a self-described satire account. It was generated using AI, as evidenced by the Grok logo in the bottom right corner. The image appeared in a post (archived here) on Instagram on…

Does a video show looters caught in the act of carrying a big-screen TV and other items from a home in the path of the fire burning Los Angeles County? No, that's not true: The men are not looters but the resident's family, helping save some of her belongings. The video clip on social media aligns with events captured in…

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…

Did Elon Musk discuss communities "putting up blue tarps all over the roofs" in an effort to defend against lasers setting fires in a podcast interview with Joe Rogan, as suggested by a video on Instagram? No, that's not true: The clip added altered video and audio to a real 2020 interview, including AI-generated imagery, to make it seem Musk…

Were the 2023 Maui wildfires started because the island holds 120 million tons of lithium? No, that's not true: A U.S. Geological Survey representative and an associate professor emeritus of geology both said there is no evidence that there is that much lithium in Maui or throughout the Hawaiian islands. Lithium is mainly found in Australia, South America and Nevada,…

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…