Image of three LA Fire Department leaders is missing context | Fact check
The claim: Photo shows Los Angeles Fire Department leadership team
A Jan. 8 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows what appears to be three women in uniform posing for a photograph in front of a raging fire.
“This is the leadership team at the Los Angeles Fire Department,” reads the post.
A version of the claim on X from the conservative account Libs of TikTok was reposted more than 9,000 times in two days.
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Our rating: Missing context
The manipulated image shows three members of the Los Angeles Fire Department’s leadership team. However, the women in the image are only three members of the 14-member leadership team listed on the department’s website.
Posts mislead about Los Angeles Fire Department leadership
The devastating wildfires in the Los Angeles area have destroyed more than 10,000 homes, businesses and other structures, and nearly 150,000 people have been forced to evacuate. At least 10 people have died in the fires, and authorities expect that number to rise, as Paste BN reported.
The original image of the women in the Facebook post, which didn't include the fiery background, was posted on the Los Angeles Fire Department’s Flickr account in February 2016. It shows, from left to right, Fire Chief Kristin Crowley, Training and Support Bureau Commander Jaime Brown and Equity and Human Resources Bureau Deputy Chief Kristine Larson.
But that isn’t the department’s entire leadership team, as the post implies, or even a significant portion of it. The department’s website lists 14 leadership positions, though two appear to be unfilled. Crowley, Brown and Larson are the only women listed among those on the leadership team.
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An organizational chart available on the department’s website lists 13 leadership positions. It doesn’t include Larson’s role. Crowley was sworn in as fire chief on March 25, 2022, becoming the first woman and LGBTQ+ fire chief in the department’s history.
Paste BN has previously debunked other claims about the Los Angeles wildfires, including that an image shows the Hollywood sign ‘covered by fire’ and that the Los Angeles Fire Department asked ‘anyone with firefighting experience’ to assist with wildfires.
Paste BN reached out to social media user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Lead Stories also debunked the claim.
Our fact-check sources
- Los Angeles Fire Department (Flickr), Feb. 21, 2016, LAFD Promotional Ceremony 2.18.16
- Los Angeles Fire Department, accessed Jan. 10, Fire Chief
- Los Angeles Fire Department, accessed Jan. 10, Training and Support Bureau Commander
- Los Angeles Fire Department, accessed Jan. 10, Equity and Human Resources Bureau
- Los Angeles Fire Department, accessed Jan. 10, Organization
- Los Angeles Fire Department, accessed Jan. 10, Organizational Chart
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