A fire erupted in the Hollywood Hills, sending unprecedented panic and disinformation cycling through social media on Wednesday afternoon while wildfires continued to shred through Los Angeles County. Fake photos and videos of the landmark Hollywood sign supposedly burning emerged, causing more stress in an already horrific disaster scenario. However, these reports are not true, and, when going to press, the legendary landmark was still standing undamaged before the flames.
The Hollywood sign is hidden in somewhat protected territory and would require a freeway cross-over and considerable distance for the fire to reach it. However, the fire has not yet made it to the sign; damage has instead been made to the infrastructure surrounding the area. The powerful flames have damaged the lighting that used to illuminate the sign, rendering it less visible than normal, although it has been safe thus far.
Read more: Has the Hollywood sign been destroyed? Fire rages near iconic landmark
However, the Hollywood Sign remains relatively unscathed, but wildfires ravaged the area, killing at least five people, destroying over 1,000 structures, and displacing more than 150,000 residents. The inferno claimed the lives of at least five people so far, and the destruction has consumed over 1,000 reducedorbits. More than 150,000 people have had to evacuate from their homes as fire blazes uncontrollably. Emergency responders are fully engaged in attempting to suppress and control the flames, which continue to be driven and aggravated by dry weather and high winds.
The rapid dissemination of false information surrounding the Hollywood sign is contributing to the already chaotic situation. One of the earliest accounts to address these fake claims was the popular X account Raw Alerts. The account pointed out that the images being shared on social media were “AI-generated” and not actual photos of the fire. To further counteract the misinformation, the account also posted screenshots from a live webcam dedicated to monitoring the Hollywood sign, showing that it was unaffected by the fire.
Despite these efforts, some users continued to spread the false images, adding to the confusion and hysteria. In one instance, an account associated with the QAnon conspiracy theory celebrated the disaster, wrongly assuming that the Hollywood sign was indeed on fire. This type of misinformation only worsens the public’s sense of panic during an already devastating crisis.
History of the Hollywood sign
Hollywood has become a melting pot of cultural diversity, and may be ironically shadowed by events similar to those that took place in the past. The Hollywood sign is intended to be a global symbol for the entertainment industry, located in Hollywood Hills in the Santa Monica Mountains. It was built in 1923 not as an iconic landmark but as a publicity tool for a luxury housing development, Hollywoodland, behind the production of which stood Harry Chandler, the ex-publisher of Los Angeles Times. The sign, fabricated from wood and steel, was originally “Hollywoodland,” referring to the impending development of the housing project.
In 1932, the sign was thrust into the public consciousness by a suicide, that of Welsh actress Peg Entwistle. She heaved herself up a workman’s ladder to the top of “H” and jumped. In addition to falling to her death from the Hollywood sign, she left behind a suicide note to be discovered later in her purse. The event became one of the dramatic turning points in making the Hollywood sign visible to the world, both representing its glittering box of fame and the shadow that it cast across fame.
In year 1944, the sign was handed over to the City of Los Angeles. To say that it fell into disuse would be, to put it mildly, as there was talk about pulling it down. In fact, it was in 1978 that Hugh Hefner-the founder of Playboy-given publicity to save the sign. It then underwent renovations to provide it the current sturdy and durable look. The current Hollywood sign is constructed of corrugated steel and strongly anchored to a hefty steel framing, making it far less flammable than the original. With this structural enhancement, the current installation is better protected against fire threats.
Now, today, the Hollywood Sign is a part of the whole history of Los Angeles, that reflects the film history and the broader cultural significance associated with it. At the same time, the historical symbol of Hollywood legacy is symbolic of the pitfalls coming with living in fire-prone areas such as the Santa Monica mountains. Though for the moment, the wildfires reflect the strong reminder of dangers that lie in such catastrophic events.
