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| - Fact Check: These dramatic videos have nothing to do with the Hawaii wildfire
The first video is from 2022, while the second video is at least two months old.
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India Today Fact Check
The first video is from a 2022 fire incident in Ohio, US. The second video is at least two months old and possibly from Chile.
As you already know, a devastating wildfire swept through Lahaina, a town on Maui, one of Hawaii's islands, earlier this month claiming at least 93 lives till August 14. Social media is replete with videos and photos capturing this massive tragedy. However, there are also two videos being widely shared and passed off as from Hawaii. In reality, these videos are old and have no connection to Hawaii.
Video of fire creeping along pavements
The first video features fire along pavements amidst strong winds, as onlookers recorded the spectacle. Sharing the video, a Twitter user wrote, "BREAKING: Astonishing Hawaii Video - Fire Engulfs Street!"
India Today, however, found that the video is not linked to Hawaiian wildfires. It's from a 2022 incident in Cleveland, Ohio, US.
A reverse search of the video's keyframes led us to the same clip in a Fox8 report from June 2022. The video originates from a Cleveland fire on June 18, 2022. According to the reports, fire investigators had found that a discarded cigarette accidentally ignited the fire in a mulch bed, carried by strong winds to other mulch beds. Mulch beds are generally made of dead leaves that are put around a plant to protect its base and its roots, to improve the quality of the soil. No one was injured in this fire.
Other media reports documenting the same incident used the same video and similar footage.
The video in question and other shots of the fire in the same area were shared on various platforms including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in June 2022.
So, it is clear that old footage from Ohio, USA is being shared as Hawaii in the aftermath of the raging wildfire.
Video of transformer explosion
The second video tries to tie the Hawaii fire to a conspiracy theory. It shows a ‘light beam' striking a neighbourhood that starts a fire.
"Disturbing New FOOTAGE from Maui fires shows what allegedly happened," captioned some users while sharing it.
India Today, however, found that the video in question is at least two months old and has nothing to do with the wildfire in Maui, Hawaii.
Reverse-searching keyframes from the viral video led us to a Telegram post that featured a higher resolution of the same video that was shared on June 6. We also found the same video on a YouTube channel, CHV News.
According to this news bulletin in the Spanish language, it was an explosion in the transformer due to strong winds. An optical effect made it appear as if a strange light from the sky caused this explosion. Visuals of the damaged transformer also appeared in the bulletin.
This bulletin was uploaded on May 30, 2023. According to their Twitter handle, CHV news is based in Santiago, Chile. So possibly this video could also be from Chile but we could not independently verify that. However, it is sure that it has nothing to do with Hawaii.
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