Image doesn't show Smokehouse Creek fire, it's an illustration from 2017 | Fact check

Hannah Hudnall, USA TODAY
·2 min read

The claim: Image shows Smokehouse Creek fire in Texas

A Feb. 27 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) includes four images, one of which shows a prairie on fire with a group of cows running away.

"Friends!!" part of the post's caption reads. "Our TEXAS PANHANDLE is on fire!!"

The post also includes a poster for a fundraiser, a photo of a cloud of smoke wafting above a country road and a screenshot of a Facebook post about a Texas fire.

The post garnered more than 600 shares in two days.

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Our rating: False

The image of a burning prairie is an illustration that was featured in a 2017 issue of Texas Monthly. It is unrelated to the Smokehouse Creek fire.

2017 illustration falsely linked to Smokehouse Creek fire

A fire in Smokehouse Creek, Texas, has become the largest in the state's history, consuming a million acres and causing one death as of Feb. 29. The blaze, which is only 3% contained, is just one of 130 fires traveling across the state, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.

The image of the blazing prairie included in the Facebook post doesn't show the Smokehouse Creek fire, however.

The image was featured in an August 2017 issue of Texas Monthly, where it was labeled an illustration by Kent Matheson, not a photo. The magazine issue detailed the story of three ranch hands who died while trying to protect their cattle from a fire in March of that year.

The three deaths, which took place in Gray County, Texas, were reported on by national and local outlets alike at the time, including USA TODAY, NBC News and ABC-7 Amarillo.

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The image was included in the Facebook post alongside three legitimate pictures, one of which was captured during the Smokehouse Creek fire in Canadian, Texas, on Feb. 27.

USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

PolitiFact also debunked the claim.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 2017 image falsely linked to Smokehouse Creek fire | Fact check