Old photo of melted cars misleadingly linked to US heat wave in July 2023

  • This article is more than one year old.
  • Published on August 22, 2023 at 05:59
  • Updated on August 22, 2023 at 06:07
  • 4 min read
  • By SHIM Kyu-Seok, AFP South Korea

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Social media posts about a major heat wave that baked the US southwest have misleadingly shared an old image of partially melted cars alongside a picture of a withering cactus. While the cactus photo was genuinely taken in Arizona in July, the photo of cars was taken in 2018, when the vehicles melted from the heat from a fire at a construction site.

"Current state of the heat wave in the United States," reads a Korean-language post shared on EastSideStory, a South Korean forum, on July 31.

The post shows two photos -- one of two cars with melted rear bumpers and tail lights and the other of a withering cactus plant.

The screenshot with the vehicles contains the logo of local broadcaster SBS and includes a chyron that says: "Mounting damages in the US, where temperatures have been boiling for a month."

The other picture shows the logo of South Korean broadcaster MBC.

Screenshot of the misleading claim shared on EastSideStory. Captured August 6, 2023.

The same screenshots have been shared together on TCafe, another South Korean forum and on Facebook here and here.

A record-breaking heat wave baked the southern United States in July with Phoenix, the capital of the state of Arizona enduring its longest heat wave in history.

Temperatures in the city climbed to at least 43 degrees Celsius (110 Fahrenheit) for 31 straight days, according to the New York Times.

July -- marked by heat waves and fires around the world -- was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth, the European Union's climate observatory confirmed, warning of dire consequences.

Construction project fire

The photo of melted cars was initially published in a misleading context in an SBS news report on August 3, 2023 about the heat wave baking the United States.

The report was subsequently taken down.

However, reverse image searches on Google and keyword searches on Facebook found the image has circulated online for at least five years.

It was shared on Facebook on June 20, 2018 in a post that reads: "From across the street where the student housing construction project fire happened last night." (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison of the image in the misleading posts (left) and the photo shared on Facebook in June 2018 (right):

Screenshot comparison of the image shared in social media posts in the wrong context in July 2023 and the image published on Facebook in August 2018:

Keyword searches found a similar photo of melted cars published on June 22, 2018 in a local news report from Tucson, Arizona-based KOLD News 13, headlined: "Construction site fire in Tucson results in $8-10 million in damages" (archived link).

According to the report, the fire at the construction site was "so hot and bright, it lit up the morning sky and melted cars in a parking lot next door."

Below is a screenshot comparison of the image in one of the misleading posts (left) and the Tucson News Now report (right) with the corresponding features circled by AFP:

Image comparing the photo in the misleading social media posts (left) with a screenshot of the Tucson News Now report (right), which includes a photo taken from a different angle of one of the melted cars. AFP has circled the matching section in yellow

Multiple video reports from the same fire in Tucson by local news channel KGUN9 were published online here on June 19, 2018 (archived link).

The Tucson Fire Department also posted video footage of the fire on its official Facebook page on June 20, 2018, alongside a description that said "Cranes, cars, trees, and buildings were all damaged due to the extreme temperatures but most importantly, no one was injured" (archived link).

AFP has previously debunked posts claiming the image shows cars melting due to the hot weather in Saudi Arabia.

Withering cactus

A keyword search on Google found the image of the cactus in a report by South Korean broadcaster MBC from July 31 about the scorching heat in Phoenix (archived link).

The image corresponds to footage credited to Reuters news agency and published in a Weather.com report from August 13 (archived link).

The report says it shows Saguaro cactus plants withering from the heat at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix in July.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the image shared in the posts (left) and the corresponding frame from the Weather.com report (right):

Screenshot comparison of the cactus plant image from the misleading social media posts (left) and corresponding footage from Reuters published in the Weather.com report (right)

Reuters' report on the withering Sagauro cacti in Arizona from July 26 features a similar photo of the plant taken from a slightly different angle, with a caption that says: "View of a Saguaro, a resilient desert cacti affected by Arizona's extreme heat and prolonged drought, in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S., July 25, 2023" (archived link).

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