Who Is Dancing in the Video – the CAL FIRE Deputy Chief or a Ballet Dancer?

On January 12, the Russian-language Facebook account Светлана Городинская, which often spreads disinformation, along with other Facebook accounts (1, 2) and a Russian-language Telegram channel, posted a video depicting ballet dancing. According to the accompanying text, it shows the Deputy Director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE).

The man dancing in the circulated video is not the Deputy Director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection but ballet dancer Kouadio Davis. The video is also posted on his Instagram account.

The dancer in the video is not the CAL FIRE Deputy Director. He is Kouadio Davis, a dancer, whose Instagram account has this video as well as many other video clips of him dancing. This particular video was posted on his account on January 3.

As regards the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, CAL FIRE has several deputies in fire-related areas: Matthew Sully – Deputy Director, Cooperative Fire Protection; Jake Sjolund – Deputy Director, Fire Protection Programs; Frank Bigelow – Deputy Director of Community Wildfire Preparedness and Mitigation and Fire Engineering and Investigation Division. As for Kouadio Davis, he does not appear in the list of the department’s leadership at all.

A wildfire that began in the forests of Los Angeles County, California, has been raging since January 7 and, due to strong winds, has spread to other populated areas. Efforts to extinguish the fire are still underway. As of January 14, 24 people have died, and 23 are reported missing.

Firefighters are currently battling four major fire hotspots:

1. Palisades: 14% contained, 23,713 hectares burned.
2. Eaton: 33% contained, 14,117 hectares burned.
3. Hurst: 97% contained, 799 hectares burned.
4. Auto: Not contained, 56 hectares burned.