Helicopter setting fire to trees was slowing wildfire, not setting one | Fact check
The claim: Post implies wildfires in Yellowknife, Canada, were set by government helicopters
An Aug. 21 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) features a video of a helicopter spraying flames on the forest below.
“Climate change caught on camera!” reads the caption of the video, which includes the hashtags #Yellowknife, #Canada and #fire.
Some social media users took the post to mean the Canadian government intentionally ignited wildfires in order to manufacture evidence of climate change.
“Governments all over the world are implementing murder all for money and control of the people!!!” reads one comment.
The post garnered more than 1,000 likes in three days. Other versions of the post continue to circulate on Facebook and TikTok.
Follow us on Facebook! Like our page to get updates throughout the day on our latest debunks
Our rating: Missing context
The implied claim is wrong. The video in the post does not prove wildfires near Yellowknife, Canada, were intentionally set. Authorities released the original footage, which shows firefighters burning off vegetation strategically to stop the spread of a wildfire near the Ingraham Trail highway in the Northwest Territories.
Video shows planned ignition to mitigate ongoing wildfire
Hundreds of wildfires spreading across Canada have burned more than 33 million acres as of Aug. 30 in the “worst ever recorded” fire season for the country.
But the footage does not prove the Canadian government intentionally started wildfires near Yellowknife as the Instagram user implies.
Rather, the video captures Canadian firefighters executing a planned ignition operation of forest near the Ingraham Trail highway in an attempt to contain the Ingraham Trail Fire (ZF011-23), according to Mike Westwick, a fire information officer with the Government of the Northwest Territories.
The Government of the Northwest Territories originally released the footage with the intention of educating the media and the public on the ways firefighters are working to combat wildfires, Westwick said. The original caption of the video notes the planned ignition operation was a strategy "to slow the growth of fires by removing vegetation."
Firefighters intentionally burn sections of forest in order to slow the spread of wildfires, especially in remote and hard-to-access areas, according to Jonathan Boucher, a researcher at the Canadian Forest Service. That way, when a wildfire reaches a certain area of the forest, there is less “fuel” for the fire, Boucher said.
The kinds of controlled ignitions seen in the video “contributed to this fire being moved to a status known as 'being held' the other day,” Westwick said in an email. “With the work we're currently putting in, and with weather conditions prevailing and upcoming in mind, we do not expect the fire to grow significantly.”
Planned burns and ignition operations are an extremely common wildfire mitigation technique that has been used in both Canada and the U.S. for decades, he told USA TODAY.
These kinds of controlled burns have been “one of the most effective ways to push back against the sorts of huge wildfires being experienced in Canada this year,” Westwick said. “They are only undertaken with extremely careful consideration of the conditions, and under the careful planning of specialists in these sorts of operations.”
Fact check: Viral helicopter video shows planned ignition to mitigate wildfire in Canada
The “vast majority” of wildfires in the Northwest Territories – including all of the recent fires burning near Yellowknife – are started by lightning, according to Westwick.
Controlled burns and other fire mitigation techniques have become frequent subjects of misinformation on social media. USA TODAY has debunked similar claims regarding footage of firefighters using controlled or prescribed burns in California and Canada.
USA TODAY reached out to the Instagram user for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Our fact-check sources:
Jonathan Boucher, Aug. 25, Phone interview with USA TODAY
Mike Westwick, Aug. 30, Email exchange with USA TODAY
USA TODAY, June 8, Viral helicopter video shows planned ignition to mitigate wildfire in Canada | Fact check
USA TODAY, Oct. 28. 2022, Fact check: California uses controlled burns to mitigate wildfires
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Aug. 11, Canada reports worst wildfire season on record — and there's more to come this fall
Government of Canada, accessed Aug. 30, Canadian Lightning Detection Network
Government of Northwest Territories, accessed Aug. 30, Ingraham Trail (Highway 4)
Government of Northwest Territories, accessed Aug. 30, NWT Live Fire Map
Government of Northwest Territories, updated Aug. 30, Wildfire Update
CBC, Aug. 20, Fighting fire with fire in N.W.T.
NWT Fire, Aug. 29, Facebook post
Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or e-newspaper here.
Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Video shows Canadian government fighting wildfires | Fact check
