The Maui, Hawaii wildfires in the summer of 2023 were the deadliest in the United States in 100 years, and gave rise to a number of conspiracy theories, including that the fires were staged by the US state or other shadowy groups, and had been started by laser beams – false claims that SVT took a closer look then.
Now extensive fires are raging in Los Angeles.
The fact that the cause of the Los Angeles fires is not yet known has given rise to Maui-like tones on social media.
In addition to baseless claims of government conspiracies and extraterrestrial attacks, large amounts of seemingly realistic videos and images are also circulating that claim to show world famous structures being engulfed by the ravenous flames.
Videos and pictures that are fake.
False claim: The iconic sign has burned down
Perhaps the single most famous symbol of California – the Hollywood sign – has become the subject of much speculation, and videos purported to show the sign burning up have been viewed by hundreds of thousands.
A webcam that shows the sign live 24 hours a day is down, something that some have taken as further evidence that it has burned down.
However, the Hollywood sign has not burned up, and the pictures and videos purporting to show it are fake.
See how SVT investigates the sign’s alleged fate in the video above.