Were the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires intentionally set to implement "smart city" technology across Los Angeles? No, that's not true: While the cause of the wildfires had not been determined at the time of writing, the "smart city" effort to improve technology for municipalities does not include intentionally destroying them first. Los Angeles unveiled its plan to eventually add "smart city" features in December 2020, more than four years before the wildfires started.
The claim appeared in a reel published on Facebook (archived here) on January 12, 2025, under the title "Los Angeles SMART CITY PROJECT."
The text overlay said:
Theory of Smart City Los Angeles 😱🤯 #theory #hollywood #californiafire #wildfiereus #hollywoodfire #losangelesfire #lafire #wildfire2025 #smartcity #smartcity2028
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Wed Jan 15 15:49:40 2025 UTC)
The original poster "Conspirant" has shared a number of similarly produced conspiracy-minded Facebook reels, including one that suggests the moon landing was staged and another claiming various popes embrace satanic symbols.
The post in question consisted of a video with music but no narration showing scenes from the wildfires that destroyed parts of Los Angeles; Paradise, California; and Maui, Hawaii. Interspersed were Google searches for those three cities that returned results showing each considering "smart city" ideas, implying that the wildfires were prompted by the "smart city" planning.
The tech industry trade website Verdict (archived here) reported the idea of smart cities (archived here) took off in 1994 when Amsterdam created a "virtual city" to promote internet usage for its residents.
According to the data and analytics provider GlobalData (archived here), "smart cities" rely on AI, 5G and other emerging technology to "provide the hardware, connectivity, and data analysis capabilities that underpin smart city infrastructures" such as smart streetlights, gun detection and disaster early warning systems.
In December 2020, Los Angeles announced its SmartLA 2028 plan (archived here) to increase technology investment to make the city a more equitable place to live:
It is technology that enables transparency in our policing and gives a powerful voice to our diverse communities. It is technology that prepares us for incoming natural disasters. It is technology that innovates alternative energy sources to reduce pollution and limit our carbon footprint. It is technology that allows people with disabilities to fully participate in civic life.
The plan makes no mention of destroying parts of Los Angeles first.
Lead Stories debunked earlier claims that the 2023 Maui fires were somehow connected to smart city planning.
In fact, in a report released October 2, 2024 (archived here), Maui fire investigators announced the wildfires were accidental, caused by faulty utility lines:
The cause of the fire was the re-energization of broken utility lines which caused the ejection of molten metallic material (sparks) to fall to the base of pole 25, igniting the unmaintained vegetation below.
In 2018, the Camp Fire Wildfire destroyed much of Paradise, California, along with other communities. A June 16, 2020, investigation (archived here) conducted by the Butte County District Attorney found that the utility company Pacific Gas and Electric was solely responsible because it failed to maintain its power lines, thus creating sparks that caused the deadly fires:
(A grand jury) returned an Indictment finding sufficient evidence to charge the Pacific Gas and Electric Company with 85 felony counts - one count of unlawfully and recklessly causing the Camp Fire as a result of its gross negligence in maintaining its power line, and 84 individual counts of involuntary manslaughter naming each of the persons directly killed in the Camp Fire by PG&E's criminal negligence. The Indictment also included three special allegations for PG&E's causing great bodily injury to a firefighter; causing great bodily injury to more than one surviving victim; and causing multiple structures to burn (listed as approximately 18,804 structures).
As of January 15, 2025, there is no official cause for the current wildfires affecting the Los Angeles area. On January 12, 2025, Southern California Edison issued a news release (archived here) saying its analysis found no evidence the utility's power lines were to blame.
For more Lead Stories fact checks into claims involving the Los Angeles area wildfires, click here.
