Video of the Canadian firefighting plane is from 2019
Amidst the controversy sparked by President-elect Donald Trump’s claim that Canada is the 51st state of the U.S. and the ongoing inferno in Los Angeles, a video of a Canadian firefighting plane extinguishing a fire is being shared as if it’s recent footage from the Los Angeles fire. The posts further claim that Canada is showing generosity by helping the U.S. during the crisis, while Trump is threatening Canada’s sovereignty.
Francis Bonnardel asserted, ‘Impressive images! A huge congratulations to our pilots and technicians currently working in California to fight forest fires. You make all of Quebec proud!’
Hansraj Meena claimed, ‘Ignoring Donald Trump’s divisive statements, Canada has set an example of humanity and cooperation by sending firefighting planes to extinguish fires in the US. Protecting the environment and life is possible only through international partnership.’
Dhruv Rathee Satire, News Jungal Media, and Minakshi Singh shared this news.
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We began our fact-checking process by performing a reverse image search of the video. The search led us to an X post shared by Colton Von Pertz, an aerial photojournalist and reporter, on September 19, 2019. He wrote, “Brush fire at the Santa Fe Recreational Area | Quebec-1 & Quebec-2 (the SuperScoopers) were on scene with @LACoFireAirOps and @LACOFD. The fire was quickly contained.”
Additionally, a news report from January 14, 2025, states that over 60 Canadian frontline firefighters are heading to the Los Angeles area as part of international efforts to combat the ongoing wildfires, which have claimed lives and destroyed thousands of homes. According to a statement from the B.C. Ministry of Forests, a team of 22 crew members and one agency representative departed for Los Angeles on Monday, joining a dozen technical specialists who arrived over the weekend.
Furthermore, Bloomberg reported that Canada also deployed its yellow firefighting planes, known as Canadairs, to assist in the firefighting efforts in LA.
| Claim | The video shows a Canadian firefighting plane assisting in the LA fire. |
| Claimed by | Francis Bonnardel and others |
| Fact Check | The video is from 2019 and shows a yellow Canadair plane assisting in a brush fire at Santa Fe, New Mexico. |
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