This photo doesn’t show the Smokehouse Creek fire in Texas; it was posted in 2017

The Smokehouse Creek Fire that broke out in Texas on Feb. 26 has burned through an estimated 850,000 acres, becoming Texas’ second-largest wildfire ever recorded, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.

Social media users provided updates and information on where to donate money or supplies. A Feb. 27 Facebook post attached two photos showing land covered in fire and smoke.

"Friends!! Our TEXAS PANHANDLE is on fire!! They’re evacuating parts of it as we speak," the caption read.

(Screenshot from Facebook)

Featured Fact-check

Viral image

stated on March 24, 2024 in a Instagram post

Video shows Russian President Vladimir Putin saying Biblical figures were “all Black.”

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

But the first photo doesn’t show the Smokehouse Creek fire; it was first posted in 2017.

A reverse-image search showed that the photo was used in a Texas Monthly feature published in August 2017 about three people who died in a fire in Texas’ Gray County in March 2017.

The photo was posted seven years ago; it does not show the current Smokehouse Creek fire. We rate that claim False.