California is battling a devastating wildfire situation, with five major fires raging across Southern California, fueled by hurricane-force winds and dry conditions. The fires have ravaged over 29,000 acres, prompting evacuation orders for nearly 293,000 residents, and a death toll of ten. Governor Gavin Newsom has declared the situation a “statewide catastrophe,” estimating economic losses at $52 billion.
Amid this, on social media, an image from California has gone viral. While sharing the image users wrote “This church building survived the California fire” .
Fact Check
During the investigation, DFRAC found the claim to be fake. We did not find any media reports supporting the claim or containing such an image. Additionally, we analyzed the image for AI-generated content using Hive Moderation and the tool confirmed that it was likely created by AI.
Conclusion
It is evident from DFRAC’s fact check that the claim about a church building surviving the California fire is fake since it is AI-generated.
