Working on Fire has dismissed claims circulating on social media that South African firefighters were recently sent to assist with the fires in Los Angeles.

According to Lowvelder, a video currently circulating on Facebook shows members of Working on Fire South Africa singing and dancing.

The video is captioned: “A group of South African firefighters who have landed in Canada to make their way to Los Angeles to help.”

Working on Fire, an expanded public works programme providing opportunities for young men and women in the fire industry, clarified that the video is from last year.

“No firefighters from South Africa were sent to Los Angeles. The video circulating on social media is an old video of the team that had been sent to Canada last year. We do not have a memorandum of understanding with America, since they have an extensive team and equipment to fight fires,” said Mpumalanga spokesperson Amanda Mthembu in a written response on Monday.

A Facebook user, Gayle Pinderhughes, commented below the video: “Misinformation. Please remove this post. This happened in July [2024] and has nothing to do with the current LA fires.”

Another reader, Tracy Katelman, said: “Beautiful, but surprising. South Africa is sending away crews during its high fire season, and via Canada?”