These 'fire tornadoes' are from 2024 Wyoming blaze, not LA fires | Fact check
The claim: Video shows 'fire tornadoes' in California
A Jan. 9 Threads post (direct link, archive link) shows what appears to be two tornadoes moving through a burning rural landscape.
“Did you know that Cali gets fire tornadoes?!” the post reads. “These two were outside the EatonFire (sic)."
The post was reposted more than 80 times in six days. Similar versions of the claim also circulated on Instagram, Facebook and X.
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Our rating: False
The clip was not filmed in California. It shows a pair of fire whirls from the Remington Fire, which began in August 2024 and burned through parts of Wyoming and Montana.
Video predates California wildfires
A series of wildfires have ravaged parts of the Greater Los Angeles area since early January, killing at least 25 people and destroying thousands of buildings.
The video purportedly showing two fire tornadoes in California began spreading amid the disaster, but the footage originated months earlier in Wyoming, local officials said.
Fire tornadoes, or fire whirls, are "spinning, moving columns" of air that rise from a vortex, carrying smoke, debris and flames, according to the National Weather Service.
Fire whirls have been spotted in the Pacific Palisades blaze, but not the pair featured in the video in question. Those were captured during the August 2024 Remington Fire in Wyoming, local Clearmont Fire District Chief Josh McKinley told Paste BN.
McKinley was "standing over the right shoulder" of a volunteer firefighter while she recorded the footage, he said.
"I was the incident commander on that fire and took photos and videos of the same thing," McKinley said in an email, which included photos of the scene from his personal camera roll.
Fact check: This viral image doesn't show Los Angeles wildfire damage. It's a fabrication
The Clearmont Fire District shared an image of the fire whirls on Aug. 25, 2024, in a Facebook post tagged “#Remingtonfire photos.” The road, power lines and tree line in the image match the Threads video.
A marked Clearmont Fire District vehicle can also be seen parked at the scene of the fire whirls in a photo from a separate post.
"Behind it is a 2 1/2 ton military truck converted to a fire truck that belongs to our district," McKinley said. "You can barely see the red roof and the red emergency rotator light."
The fire district's photos and videos were also featured in news reports at the time. On Aug. 24, 2024, KTWO Radio in Wyoming published the fire whirl video with an article about the Remington Fire.
Paste BN previously debunked false claims that Oregon fire trucks were prevented from entering California, that an image shows the iconic Hollywood Sign surrounded by fire, that another image shows the wildfires were caused by directed energy weapons and that President Joe Biden’s administration blocked firefighting aircraft during his visit.
Paste BN reached out to several users who shared the "fire tornadoes" video for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Our fact-check sources
- KTWO Radio, Aug. 24, 2024, Video: ‘Fire-nadoes’ seen during Wyoming wildfires
- Clearmont Fire District, Aug. 25, 2024, Facebook post
- Grapple Iron Designs, Aug. 27, 2024, TikTok post
- Josh McKinley, Jan. 14, Email exchange with Paste BN
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