Clip of driver rescued from fiery car crash filmed in Minnesota, not during

Fast-spreading wildfires have reduced whole communities in Los Angeles to scorched rubble in January 2025, but a dramatic clip of a person being rescued from a burning car was not filmed in the fire-weary city. The clip in fact shows the rescue of a person trapped in their vehicle after a fiery crash in St. Paul, Minnesota in April 2024.

“Citizens save a human life from a burning car during a fire in the United States. #LosAngelesFires #California,” read the Urdu-language caption of a video shared on X on January 13, 2025.

The burning car in the video is pressed against barriers on the side of a road, hampering efforts to force its driver door open and rescue the person trapped inside. The person is eventually rescued after the car’s window is smashed, just as flames begin to engulf the vehicle.

It was shared as massive wildfires ripped through the United States’ second-largest city, consuming communities and destroying homes (archived link).

The fires, which have ravaged 40,000 acres (16,000 hectares) in the Los Angeles area, erupted on January 7 and have killed at least 27 people (archived link).

Screenshot of the false X post, captured on January 20, 2025

The same video was also shared elsewhere on X here and here, with comments indicating users believed it showed the impact of the LA fires.

“Salute to the brave people of California. we stand with them in this difficult time,” read one comment.

Another said, “Great work. Americans need unity and to help each other in this hard time. Pray for Americans’ safety.”

The video, however, was not filmed as wildfires devastated Los Angeles.

Minnesota car crash

Reverse image searches on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared video led to the same footage shared on the verified YouTube channel of NBC News on April 22, 2024 (archived link).

The video is titled, “Good Samaritans save man from fiery crash on side of highway moments before fire reaches him”.

NBC credits the footage to Kadir Tolla, who is interviewed in the news report about how he helped rescue the person trapped in the burning wreck.

Tolla’s footage — taken from his car’s dashcam — was also used in a news report by CBS News (archived link).

He posted the footage, as well as additional videos from the incident, on his own Facebook page on April 21 (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video as seen in the false post (left) and Tolla’s footage (right):

<span>Screenshot comparison of the video as seen in the false post (left) and Tolla’s footage (right)</span>” loading=”lazy” width=”960″ height=”467″ decoding=”async” data-nimg=”1″ class=”rounded-lg” src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/6rWCnD4N8x52wUiYCtwuXQ–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTQ2Nw–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/afp_factcheck_us_713/000595b06c5e580a4cd6524bb61d6545″><button aria-label= — Screenshot comparison of the video as seen in the false post (left) and Tolla’s footage (right)

Tolla’s video shows it was filmed near exit 238 of the Interstate 94 highway near St. Paul. Google Street View imagery matches the footage from Tolla’s dashcam (archived link).

<span>Screenshot comparison of Tolla’s footage (left) and corresponding Google Street View imagery (right)</span>” loading=”lazy” width=”960″ height=”251″ decoding=”async” data-nimg=”1″ class=”rounded-lg” src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/jsZ9pSFCb1gK8pXZl7brjg–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTI1MQ–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/afp_factcheck_us_713/9cc2ff495558bc47b38501db6f69a8b3″><button aria-label= — Screenshot comparison of Tolla’s footage (left) and corresponding Google Street View imagery (right)

AFP has debunked other misinformation that has spread online about the LA wildfires here, here and here.

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