An illegal drone collided with a plane fighting Los Angeles fires on January 9, but there have been no reports of a crash involving such an aircraft, contrary to claims on social media. Dramatic footage spread online showing a plane plunging to the ground was in fact filmed in Chile in January 2024.

Global warming caused mainly by burning of fossil fuels made the hot, dry and windy conditions that drove the recent deadly fires around Los Angeles about 35 times more likely to occur, an international team of scientists concluded in a rapid attribution analysis released Tuesday.