Footage shows controlled burn carried out in the US, not 'wildfire ignited in China'

An old video of US firefighters conducting a controlled burn in a forest has resurfaced in social media posts that falsely claimed it as "proof" the Chinese Communist Party was directly responsible for fires that ravaged southwestern China in February and March 2024. The video was in fact posted two years earlier, in March 2022, by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

"Why? The Chinese Communist Party used helicopters to dump petrol to ignite fires, no wonder the wildfires are so severe," read part of the simplified Chinese caption to a video shared on social media platform X on March 3, 2024.

The caption continued: "What is the Communist Party trying to do? The wildfires have been put out, but the disaster continues. The Communist Party is relying on creating disasters to prolong its existence!"

The video shows a helicopter hovering over a wooded area while appearing to drip an orange substance over the vegetation below.

The same video was also shared elsewhere on X here, here and here.

It circulated after more than 200 wildfires were recorded in China's western Guizhou province in February 2024. Citing Guizhou fire authorities, state news agency Xinhua said the wildfires occurred during persistent dry and windy weather (archived link).

Another state media outlet, the Global Times newspaper, reported that authorities in Guizhou had also detained 10 people for "illegally using fire in mountain areas" that sparked wildfires (archived link).

But the video was first posted two years earlier and shows a preventative fire being set in the United States.

'Helitorch'

Reverse image and keyword searches on Google led to the same footage published by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, also known as Cal Fire, on its official Facebook page on March 30, 2022 (archived link).

The video's caption said the device attached to the helicopter is called a helitorch, which is used for setting prescribed fires -- controlled burns that use up a wildfire's potential fuel to help reduce their spread and intensity (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison between the falsely shared video (left) and the Cal Fire clip (right):

Similar footage can also be seen at the 53-second mark of a video posted on Cal Fire's official YouTube channel (archived link)

The use of helicopters to start prescribed fires was also covered in a CBS News report from May 23, 2023 (archived link).

AFP previously debunked another false claim about the use of a helitorch in September 2022.

Christine McMorrow, a communication officer for Cal Fire, told AFP at the time that these operations followed a "prescribed burn plan".

"The burn plan identifies the specific weather conditions and fuel moisture conditions that must be in place before the prescribed burn is ignited," McMorrow told AFP, adding that other factors were considered to mitigate risk and prevent wildfires.

She said prescribed burns are implemented "only if the conditions are exactly as described" in the plan.

Jessica Gardetto, the public affairs chief for the US Bureau of Land Management, also told AFP at the time that such operations "do not start uncontrolled wildfires".

AFP has fact-checked other false and misleading claims about wildfire control operations here, here and here.