Fact check: Viral claims on California wildfires

It has been nearly a week since the devastating wildfires began raging through southern California, killing at least 24 people and burning an area larger than San Francisco. While the true causes of the blaze remain under investigation, a flood of misinformation regarding the fires and their impact has been unleashed on social media. 

Noticeably, President-elect Donald Trump was one of those who spread numerous false or misleading claims on the wildfires in LA, many of which went viral after Elon Musk repostedthem on his social platform, X.

Many users on social media shared numerous pictures and videos allegedly showing the fires, however, not all were recent, and some weren't even real. DW’s Team Fact check analyzed the most viral claims. 

A non-existent water restoration declaration 

Claim: "Governor Gavin Newscum [sic!] refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California…," President-elect Donald Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social. "On top of it all, no water for fire hydrants, not firefighting planes. A true disaster!" he blamed the authorities. Shared by Musk on X, the post reached nearly 38 million views.  

DW Fact check: False. 

Donald Trump's accusations that California Governor Gavin Newsom is responsible for the alleged shortage of water for battling the wildfires are false.  

Although the firefighters did have some problems with the water supply, while battling the wildfires, the reason was not the absence of water reserves in California. According to Erik Scott, Public Information Officer of the Los Angeles Fire Department, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) proactively filled all available water storage tanks, including three 1-million-gallon tanks located in the Palisades area.

"However, water availability was impacted at higher elevations, which affected some fire hydrants due to limited replenishment of water tanks in those areas. The extreme demand caused a slower refill rate for these tanks which created a challenge for our firefighting effort," Scott explained on X.  

Although water continued to flow to the affected areas, water demand rose faster than the system could deliver it, LADWP CEO and Chief Engineer Janisse Quiñones saidduring a January 8 press conference.

She added, "So the consumption of water was faster than we can provide water in our trunk line. I want to make sure that you understand there's water on the trunk line. We just cannot get up the hill because we cannot fill the tanks fast enough." 

Municipal water systems are normally not designed for fast-moving wildfires intensified by the dry weather and strong winds, the experts further explained.  

"There is no such document as the water restoration declaration – that is pure fiction," the Press Office of the Governor respondedto Trump's accusations.  

Presumably, Trump referred to his administration's proposalback in 2019 to pump more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to supply farms. However, since the waters are home to endangered fish species such as the delta smelt and winter-run Chinook salmon, the Endangered Species Act mandated that two fishery agencies review the plans to ensure no species would be driven to extinction. 

In December 2024, President Biden's administration and Governor Newsom approved new regulations to increase water extraction from the Delta to Southern California while protecting local wildlife. However, there are still some doubts, whether these new rules are better than the Trump administration rules.

No, there is no equipment shortage in Los Angeles because of Ukraine 

Claim: "Oh look of course The LA fire department donated a bunch of their supplies to Ukraine," Donald Trump Jr. wrote on X, reposting screenshots of articles about the LA County Fire Department's donation of surplus supplies to Ukraine's first responders. 

DW Fact check: Misleading. 

Trump Jr.'s post implies that the equipment shortage hinders firefighters from extinguishing the California wildfires, which is caused by donations of supplies to Ukraine. However, this assumption doesn't correspond to the facts. Both shared newsare from March 18, 2022, just weeks after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, two years ago. 

According to the official website of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, "surplus items, such as hoses, nozzles, turnouts, helmets, body armor, and other associated personal protective equipment, have been donated by various public safety agencies."  

When asked about the primary challenges in containing the LA fires, officials pointed to extreme dryness, high-speed winds, water shortages, and insufficient staffing. During a press conference on Wednesday, Jan. 8, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said, "There are not enough firefighters in L.A. County to address four separate fires of this magnitude." At no point did he mention any equipment shortage.  

Moreover, Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyi offeredto send 150 firefighters to help combat California wildfires. 

AI-generated video does not show Los Angeles battling fire 

Claim: A viral TikTok video, viewed more than nine million times, allegedly shows Los Angeles on fire, with people screaming in the off and a lot of firefighters and fire engines moving in the street. 

DW Fact check: Fake. 

The caption of the ten-second-long video says "Los Angeles Wildfires: Communities Unite Amidst Devastation." According to the comments under the post in different languages, many people believe that this is a real video. However, it is AI-generated. 

If you look closely at the video, you can see many inconsistencies typical for AI-generated content. The lights on the fire engines appear to be burning and some body parts of the people moving in the video disappear and reappear. Also, the people walk unnaturally, like zombies in a horror movie. Additionally, one of the fire engines drives backwards and then kind of melts into another vehicle.  

This is not the only AI-generated viral video that is being shared online. Many are other fake videos allegedly showing the wildfires in Los Angeles.  

Hollywood Sign not burning

Claim: A ten-second video featuring ominous music in the background showing the famous Hollywood Sign burning has been viewed over 7 million timeson X. "Hollywood, California," the post reads. 

DW Fact check: Fake. 

A close look at the video shows that it is AI-generated. The most obvious hint is in the famous landmark itself. In the video, it is written with the letter "L" three times instead of two.  

DW also reached out to The Hollywood Sign Trust, the nonprofit organization that maintains the sign, whether it is on fire. According to Jeff Zarrinnam, Chair of the Hollywood Sign Trust, "Griffith Park is temporarily closed as a safety precaution, but the sign itself is not affected and is secure." 

Firefighter plane not from California

Claim: A video showing a firefighter plane, spreading red fire retardant over a forest, has been viewed almost 9 million times on TikTok. The caption in the video reads, "Pilots are risking their lives battling California fire."

DW Fact check: False.

The 17-second video does show a real airplane DC-10 Air Tanker 910, also known as "Very Large Air Tankers"(VLATs), conducting a risky aerial firefighting maneuver and diving into a canyon. However, it is not current footage from California.

A reverse image search indicates that the video is older. A longer version of the same video (36 seconds) dates back to September 2023, when it was posted on X with the words "The Anvil Fire outside Port Orford, Oregon is now 20,700 acres and can be called 9% contained." 

The Anvil Fire had started on August 25, 2023, near Port Orford, and continued for several weeks.

The Forest Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed to DW that the video "certainly looks like Anvil fire footage" from Oregon, though "it was never our video, and we didn't post it."

The representative added, "We used multiple aircraft platforms in 2023, including Large Air Tankers (LATs) and Very Large Air Tankers (VLATs) from the Medford Air Tanker Base, such as in this video. The aircraft were based out several locations in southern Oregon."

Some pictures and information about the aircraft using water and retardant to slow the progression of the fire were also posted on the official information page, called "Flat and Anvil Fires (2023) on the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, Oregon," on Meta, and show similar aircrafts and forest scenery as in the video.

Martin Kübler and Claudia Dehn contributed to this report. 

Edited by: Rachel Baig