Los Angeles Fire Department asked off-duty members to help combat wildfires | Fact check

The claim: The Los Angeles Fire Department asked ‘anyone with firefighting experience’ to assist with wildfires

A Jan. 7 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) claims first responders are seeking help from the general public in fighting wildfires sweeping through the Los Angeles area.

“BREAKING – SHARE: The Los Angeles Fire Department urges anyone with firefighting experience to assist in fighting the Palisades Fire that’s rapidly spreading and 0% contained,” reads the post.

It was shared more than 100 times in two days. Other versions of the claim spread widely on Facebook and X.

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Our rating: False

The department asked only for off-duty Los Angeles Fire Department members to assist.

Department calls online claims 'misinformation'

The claim came as the Palisades Fire and other blazes tore through Los Angeles County, killing at least five people and destroying more than 1,000 structures as of Jan. 8.

The Los Angeles Fire Department asked off-duty members to call its communications department with their availability to assist in combating the fires in a Jan. 7 X post. It’s the first time in nearly two decades the department has done so, spokesperson Margaret Stewart told KCAL-TV in Los Angeles.

But the department was not requesting outside assistance, contrary to the claim. It reiterated that only its own personnel were being asked to help in subsequent posts on another one of its X accounts.

“The (Los Angeles Fire Department) is running a recall for our OWN members and not anyone else,” reads one of the posts, which referred to the online claims to the contrary as “misinformation.”

Fact check: Viral post misleads about Wyoming fires, rare earth minerals

USA TODAY has debunked an array of claims related to wildfires, including false assertions that an image showed the 2024 Smokehouse Creek fire in Texas, that the 2023 Maui wildfires were intentionally set in a “land grab" and that the Maui wildfires were caused by a directed energy weapon.

USA TODAY reached out to the 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, Jan. 7, X post

• Los Angeles Fire Department, Jan. 7, X post

• Los Angeles Fire Department, Jan. 7, X post

• Los Angeles Fire Department, Jan. 7, X post

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Off-duty firefighters asked to help in Los Angeles fires | Fact check