A hiker who posted videos purporting to show the Palisades Fire right after it began is drawing scrutiny from social media users, as conspiracy theories about the origin of the Los Angeles-area wildfires continue to run rampant online.
Beni Oren, 24, was on a trail run when the fire broke out.
Oren posted multiple videos showing billowing smoke and flames beginning to make their way down the hill, where the fire would grow to nearly 24,000 acres and ravage the Pacific Palisades neighborhood.
“My friends and I got ambushed by the palisades fire soon after it started,” Oren described on X. “We hiked up to skull rock and smelled smoke as we were hanging.”
Oren told NBC News in an interview that as the group realized the wind was blowing the fire toward them, they ran in a panic to reach safety.
“It was a bizarre experience realizing like, f—, is all this about to be on fire?” Oren said.
But Oren’s videos of the beginnings of the fire have drawn the attention of conspiracy theorists, some of whom believe the multiple wildfires that hit Los Angeles were actually acts of arson—potentially inspired by UnitedHealthcare CEO assassin Luigi Mangione.
Other right-wingers have floated the arson theories as they reject reports of climate change’s role in fueling the fires.
But the arson conspiracy theory is just that—a conspiracy theory—with virtually no evidence to support the claims. A homeless man with a blowtorch was arrested under suspicion of arson in the Kenneth Fire, but was later not charged with arson over a lack of probable cause.
The causes of the fires remain under investigation, though experts believe high winds and exceptional dryness propelled their spread.
In the case of the Palisades fire—the largest of the half dozen fires to hit the area—a new report points to a blaze that was extinguished a week prior as the most likely cause.
According to the Washington Post, a conflagration caused by New Year’s Eve fireworks may have been reignited due to strong winds.
But that hasn’t stopped some social media users to baselessly tie Oren to the fire’s origin, prompting Oren to take down his entire X account.
“My wild guess, having hiked trails like this before, they were probably listening to music, smoking a joint (or something else) on their hike,” one person on X speculated. “The high winds knocked off their joint into the brush. They keep on walking, look back and realized they probably started a fire and ran.”
“Just a prank bro,” accused someone else.
“Investigate these kids who were right near the fires starting point,” another poster told California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).
“Very convenient they were ‘just there’. Maybe smoking and threw cig or joint,” mused someone else.
Others defended Oren as the baseless accusations continued to swirl, with one person noting “they would not be posting if they were committing arson.”
“You should be careful posting a statement like that without a shred of proof,” echoed someone else.
Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
