Does a video show real images from a 2007 episode of "The Simpsons" that predicted the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires? No, that's not true: None of the images in the video posted on social media were shown in the episode cited in the video, episode 12 of season 18 of "The Simpsons." The images used in the video on social media appear to be AI generated, according to a detection website.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on Facebook on January 11, 2025. It opened with the text overlay:
Simpsons already knew.
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Thu Jan 16 18:12:21 2025 UTC)
A voice is heard on the video while images that appear similar to Simpsons characters and locations come and go:
Did 'The Simpsons' predict it again? This time something even more disturbing is happening. In episode 12 of season 18 titled, 'Little Big Girl,' Springfield faces a devastating wildfire that threatens the town and its residents. Bart, in one of his pranks, ends up causing a fire that quickly spirals out of control, highlighting the vulnerabilities of communities in the face of natural disasters. The scenes in this episode are eerily similar to recent events. Wildfires spreading across various regions, property destruction and the relentless efforts of firefighters to contain the flames. Coincidence? Or yet another unsettling prediction? 'The Simpsons' have always kept us on alert but this time the message is clear and frightening. Whether they're right or not the question remains, how far could these disasters go? What else might the yellow family on TV have foreseen about our future. Keep an eye on the prophesies.
The images in the video are not from the episode that is available on Disney+ (archived here), which is accessible via subscription. The fire in the "Little Big Girl" episode does not spread and burn all of the fictional town of Springfield or the surrounding wooded area, as depicted in the video on Facebook. A summary of the episode is on the Simpsons wiki (archived here): It shows the fire is the premise for a plotline about Bart, not the entirety of the whole episode. Fire is seen in the episode in the woods next to Mr. Burns' mansion as this screenshot shows:
(Source: Disney+ screenshot taken on Thu Jan 16 18:35:21 2025 UTC)
In the school yard as this screenshots shows:
(Source: Disney+ screenshot taken on Thu Jan 16 18:40:32 2025 UTC)
And in town as this screenshot shows:
(Source: Disney+ screenshot taken on Thu Jan 16 18:42:52 2025 UTC)
But Bart does not set the fire, as the video on Facebook claims, and in the episode the fire is put out when Bart rides in a wagon anchored with six fire extinguishers that he stole from his school. They blow flame retardant through the town and put out the fire within the first six minutes of the episode. The fire does not spread through the woods, large swaths of neighborhoods or burn near a town sign. Also, the video shows Springfield spelled with a U at the end and not a D, as this screenshot shows:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Thu Jan 16 18:15:44 2025 UTC)
Using the HIVE moderation AI detection tool, the image of the Simpson family standing together looking at smoke above their house was rated 90.3 percent likely to be AI generated, as this screenshot shows:
(Source: HIVE website screenshot taken on Thu Jan 16 18:20:21 2025 UTC)
Other Lead Stories fact checks regarding the January 2025 wildfires in Los Angeles can be found here.
