PropertyValue
?:author
?:datePublished
  • 2018-08-06 (xsd:date)
?:headline
  • Does This Image Show a 'Firenado' in California? (en)
?:inLanguage
?:itemReviewed
?:mentions
?:reviewBody
  • Fake and misleading photographs are often shared during natural disasters. Some of these images are deliberately manipulated in order to fool viewers, while others are simply miscaptioned or misinterpreted. The latter appeared to be the case in August 2018 when an photograph purportedly showing a massive wildfire in California started making its way around online: We're uncertain who took this photograph. It was apparently first posted online by Twitter user Antonio Paris, who shared it on 4 August 2018 along with a caption stating that it showed a Firenado in California yesterday. This image may have truly been taken in California, but we can't spot a firenado in this photograph. We've reached out to Paris for more information. A firenado, also referred to as a fire tornado or a fire whirl, is a relatively rare event. Weather Optics offered the following explanation for how these destructive flaming twisters are formed: Although this viral image likely doesn't show a firenado, one such fiery storm truly was caught on camera during the massive Carr Fire in Northern California. The Los Angeles Times reported that a large firenado with 143-mph winds struck near Redding, California on the evening of 26 July 2018: Here's a video of the firenado described in that article: The viral wildfire image has also created in some viewers the impression that the flames at the Carr fire were shooting up into the sky hundreds of feet above the trees. Visual media captured by news organizations such as the Associated Press, however, show that this isn't the case: Here's another image of the California wildfire from a distance: That isn't to say that the viral picture was doctored, though. What viewers are seeing as flames in this photograph may actually be just sunlight bleeding through a large cloud of smoke. This photograph may have truly been taken in California as a wildfire burned through more than 270,000 acres, but it doesn't appear to show a firenado, and the size of the flames looks to be exaggerated. (en)
?:reviewRating
rdf:type
?:url