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Ciara O'Rourke
By Ciara O'Rourke January 17, 2025

No, this isn’t a video of Mexican firefighters flying to help battle California’s wildfires

If Your Time is short

  • This video predates when Mexico sent a contingent to help fight wildfires in California. Plus, they arrived by plane — not helicopter.

A video showing more than a dozen helicopters flying overhead is drawing social media attention as some viewers express gratitude to Mexico for sending firefighters to help combat the wildfires burning in greater Los Angeles. 

"Like Mexico always supporting," text over the video says with a Mexican flag emoji and an American flag emoji. "Humanity… to the rescue!! It’s a HUMANE thing to do… Gracias."

A Jan. 9 Facebook post sharing the video wrote: "Mexico to help out our awesome fire fighters in California."

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, Instagram and Threads.)

This video bears a logo that says "México Aeroespacial," which describes itself as a "Spanish-language content site on aviation and defense in Latin America," according to a Google translation of its "About Us" section.

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On Jan. 7, México Aeroespacial posted the video of the helicopters — without references to firefighting, California or the United States — on YouTube, Facebook, X and TikTok.

The caption on each post said, "This is the powerful combined Mexican helicopter fleet of the Mexican Air Force and the Mexican Navy," according to a Google translation. 

We contacted México Aeroespacial to ask about the video but didn’t immediately hear back. 

However, the video appeared online several days before Mexico sent a team of firefighters to California on Jan. 11. The fires broke out Jan. 7, the same day México Aeroespacial posted the videos. 

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And the firefighters from Mexico arrived in California by plane, not helicopter.

On Jan. 11, México Aeroespacial’s X account shared images of the group standing in front of the planes. The account credited Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum for the images, which she posted on X the same day, writing: "The humanitarian aid group is leaving for Los Angeles, California," according to a translation. 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom also shared an image that day, showing him standing with the contingent in front of a plane. 

"More than 70 firefighters and disaster relief workers from the National Forestry Commission and Ministry of Defense in Mexico today have arrived in Los Angeles to augment the capacity of local efforts," a statement from the governor’s office said.

We rate claims the video of helicopters shows Mexican firefighters arriving in California to help combat wildfires there False.

Our Sources

Facebook post, Jan. 9, 2025

X post, Jan. 11, 2025

Reuters, Mexico sends firefighters to California to help with raging blazes, Jan. 12, 2025

California governor’s office, Governor Newsom welcomes firefighters from Mexico to boost firefighting capacity, Jan. 11, 2025

The Guardian, 'This is what friends do' says California governor, as Mexican firefighters land in LA – video, Jan. 12, 2025

Reuters, Mexican firefighters prepare to do battle with LA fires, Jan. 13, 2025

Facebook post, Jan. 7, 2025

YouTube, Asi es la poderosa flota de helicópteros mexicana, Jan. 7, 2025

TikTok post, Jan. 7, 2025

X post, Jan. 7, 2025

México Aeroespacial website, visited Jan. 15, 2025

 

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No, this isn’t a video of Mexican firefighters flying to help battle California’s wildfires

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