Fact Check: Did Weather Channel Show ‘Human Remains’ From California Fires?
January 10, 2025
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A viral claim circulating online has alleged that the Weather Channel broadcast images of “human remains” discovered in the aftermath of the devastating California wildfires.
So far, at least 10 people have been killed as a result of the wildfires, the County of Los Angeles Department of Medical Examiner said Thursday evening. Nearly 180,000 people are under evacuation orders while around 10,000 structures have been destroyed, county officials said on Thursday.
It comes as at least five fires are currently burning in Los Angeles. The Palisades fire has burned across at least 19,978 acres and has been 6 percent contained, the Hurst fire has burned at least 771 acres and has been 37 percent contained, and the Eaton fire has burned 13,690 acres with zero containment as of Friday. The Lidia Fire has burned at least 394 acres and has been 75 percent contained, per the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Fire crews battle the Kenneth Fire in the West Hills section of Los Angeles, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. Fire crews battle the Kenneth Fire in the West Hills section of Los Angeles, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. Ethan Swope/AP
Another fire, the Kenneth fire, erupted on Thursday afternoon in Woodland Hills and has burned across almost 1,000 acres, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The fires are being fueled by powerful Santa Ana winds.
Newsweek has contacted the Weather Channel for comment via email.
The Claim
Multiple X (formerly Twitter) users have claimed that they saw human remains in a report broadcast by the Weather Channel in the aftermath of the Palisades fire on Thursday.
“The weather channel unknowingly shows DECEASED REMAINS live on air when showing the devastation from the California Palisades fires! Do you guys think that is what I think it is?” one X user wrote on Thursday.
The post was accompanied by a video posted to TikTok of a broadcast by the Weather Channel which showed a destroyed property. Debris was visible inside the property. However, some users suggested that the debris resembled human remains.
The Facts
On Thursday, a spokesperson for the Weather Channel denied the claims to the British tabloid newspaper Daily Mail.
“These social media claims are inaccurate and completely false. We have 100% confirmed that the video shows debris from the aftermath of a house fire and nothing else.
“The time wasted on erroneous news reporting on this false social media claim is disappointing given that Californians are still dealing with the trauma and devastation of the ongoing SoCal wildfires and are seeking factual information about how to keep them and their families safe as this tragic situation continues to develop,” the spokesperson said in a statement to the newspaper.
Allen Media Group, which owns the Weather Channel, later sent Daily Mail photos of the discovery from another angle showing the debris.
Other X users dismissed suggestions that the debris shown in the report resembled human remains. “Burnt humans/animals don’t look like that at all, bones don’t end up white/ivory colored. If it were a real animal or human, it would have been charred black with a lot of carbonized black skin on it.” one user wrote.
The Ruling
False.
The Weather Channel did not air footage of human remains in the aftermath of the California wildfires. The footage showed charred debris.
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