Los Angeles firefighters are not using women’s handbags to put out fires

The video shows Los Angeles firefighters using small canvas bags, not women’s handbags, as makeshift water containers to extinguish a small fire.

The raging wildfires across California have wreaked havoc, claimed at least six lives and caused widespread destruction to property and land. Amidst this a video showing two LAFD (Los Angeles Fire Department) firefighters filling small bags with water from a fire engine’s tank before throwing the water on smoke rising from a garbage shed has gone viral on social media. These objects were identified by users as “women’s handbags”.

The caption of the viral post reads, “Los Angeles Fire Department is using women’s handbags to gather water in their fight against the blaze”. 

Facebook Post| Archive link

Fact Check-

We started our investigation with the help of a keyword search on Google, whose results led us to a report that includes the response of Los Angeles Fire Department officials, that the bags seen in the videos were actually “canvas bags” that firefighters bring on engines for various jobs when tackling a small trash fire like the one shown in the videos. “It is easier to quickly fill in water and extinguish the flames than to pull out the entire hose. Hooking up fire hoses and hydrants takes time and with fires spreading so quickly, they have to act fast. Timing is everything,” the department said.

Archive link

We then conducted a reverse image search of the viral video key frames and found a YouTube channel that had published an extended version of the same video by a news account called ONSCENE TV on 8 January 2025. Neither the video’s title nor its description mentions women’s handbags.

The canvas bags used to extinguish fires are being falsely shared as that firefighters are using ladies’ handbags to spray water to control the fires in Los Angeles. Since they are made of flexible material, there may have been a misunderstanding that these are ladies’ handbags. 

Conclusion-

Fact Crescendo has found the claim made in the viral video to be Misleading. The video shows Los Angeles firefighters using small canvas bags, not women’s handbags, as makeshift water containers to extinguish a small fire.