Numerous social media users are misleadingly claiming firefighters are actually escalating the more than 400 wildfires raging in British Columbia, after sharing a viral video of a helicopter spraying flammable liquid.
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00:00 Why are firefighting helicopters shooting flames at burning Canadian forests?
00:04 Numerous social media users are claiming firefighters are actually escalating the more than 400
00:10 wildfires raging in British Columbia after sharing a viral video of a helicopter spraying
00:16 flammable liquid.
00:17 So what`s the truth behind this viral video?
00:25 A series of devastating wildfires have engulfed vast areas of forest in British Columbia and
00:31 the Northwest Territories in Canada, forcing thousands to evacuate their homes.
00:36 The country is having its worst wildfire season on record, with at least 1,000 fires burning
00:42 across the country, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center.
00:47 Experts say climate change increases the risk of the hot and dry weather that is likely
00:51 to fuel these sorts of conditions for forest fires.
00:55 The one video has puzzled a number of social media users and even sparked conspiracy theories
01:01 these Canadian forest fires have nothing to do with climate change and have actually been
01:06 purposefully started by firefighting helicopters.
01:09 The first thing we did is a reverse image search and we found that this clip is indeed
01:14 real.
01:15 However, this footage does not show the current wildfires in Canada.
01:19 It dates back to June this year.
01:21 It was first posted on YouTube by British Columbia`s Wildfire Service.
01:26 According to the description of the video, the clip shows a plant ignition on the Donny
01:30 Creek Wildfire with a flame throwing helicopter called a heli torch.
01:35 But this doesn`t mean the helicopters are intentionally escalating forest fires.
01:40 As counterintuitive as it may seem, it`s actually possible to fight fire with fire.
01:45 It`s called a controlled burn.
01:48 Because there`s no way to spray enough water to put the wildfire out entirely, firefighters
01:52 need to create a fire break.
01:54 Surround a fire with an area without any fuel to burn and it should eventually go out.
01:59 Similar videos of plant burns have been shared in the past to spread conspiracy theories
02:04 during major wildfires or to discredit climate change.
02:07 In the U.S., these flame throwing helicopters are used as a preventive measure.
02:12 In California, authorities purposefully set fire to steep and dry land that is inaccessible
02:17 to firefighters in order to prevent wildfires from starting during the summer season.
02:22 For more fact checks and investigations, check out our website, urnews.com.
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