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LOS ANGELES: A 29-year-old man has been charged with sparking California’s deadly Palisades Fire, one of the most destructive wildfires in its history, authorities said Wednesday.
Federal officials said Jonathan Rinderknecht, who lived in the area, started a small fire on New Year’s Day that smoldered underground before reigniting nearly a week later and roaring through Pacific Palisades, home to many of Los Angeles’ rich and famous.
The fire, which left 12 dead in the hillside neighborhoods across Pacific Palisades and Malibu, was one of two blazes that broke out on Jan. 7, killing more than 30 people in all and destroying over 17,000 homes and buildings while burning for days in Los Angeles County.
Rinderknecht was arrested Tuesday in Florida and made his first court appearance Wednesday in Orlando on charges including malicious destruction by means of a fire, which carries a minimum sentence of five years in prison. Wearing shorts and a T-shirt while shackled at the ankles, he told a federal magistrate in a soft-spoken voice that he was not under the influence and did not have mental issues.
The judge set a hearing for Oct. 17 to consider bond and extradition proceedings. Messages seeking comment were left for Aziza Hawthorne, the federal assistant public defender assigned to represent Rinderknecht.
Los Angeles Fire Department Interim Fire Chief Ronnie Villanueva said the arrest was an important first step toward justice.
The department released a report Wednesday that found firefighters lacked enough resources and struggled to communicate clearly in the first 36 hours of the blaze, and that those challenges hampered their response during a critical time. The report said the department did not pre-deploy enough resources despite warnings of severe winds.
Suspect talked to authorities three weeks after the fire
Investigators said Wednesday that Rinderknecht was working as an Uber driver on New Year’s Eve, 2024. After dropping off a passenger in Pacific Palisades, he parked and walked up a trail. He took videos at a nearby hilltop area and listened to a rap song with a music video showing objects being lit on fire, prosecutors said. Shortly after midnight, he lit the fire, they alleged.
He fled the scene after starting the fire but returned to the trail to watch it burn, acting US Attorney Bill Essayli said.
“He left as soon as he saw the fire trucks were headed to the location. He turned around and went back up there. And he took some video and, and watched them fight the fire,” Essayli said.
Uber said in a statement that it worked with the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to determine the driver’s whereabouts around the time of the fire.
Rinderknecht also made several 911 calls to report the fire, according to a criminal complaint.
During an interview Jan. 24, Rinderknecht told investigators where the fire began, information not yet public and that he would not have known if he hadn’t witnessed it, the complaint said.
He lied about his location, claiming he was near the bottom of the hiking trail, Essayli said.
He was visibly anxious during that interview, according to the complaint. His efforts to call 911 and his question to ChatGPT about a cigarette lighting a fire indicated that he wanted to create a more innocent explanation for the fire’s start and to show he tried to assist with suppression, the complaint said.
A ‘holdover fire,’ and investigators say they found a lighter
Federal officials called the Palisades blaze a “holdover fire” from the Jan. 1 fire, which was not fully extinguished by firefighters. LA’s interim fire chief said such fires linger in root systems and can reach depths of 15 to 20 feet (4.6 to 6.1 meters), making them undetectable by thermal imaging cameras.
Investigators determined the initial blaze was likely lit by a lighter taken to vegetation or paper, according to the criminal complaint.
Investigators found a “barbecue-style” lighter in the glove compartment of Rinderknecht’s car on Jan. 24. It appeared to be the same lighter as one that was in his apartment on Dec. 31, based on a photo on his phone. He admitted to bringing a lighter with him when he walked up the hill, authorities said.
Federal prosecutors will need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the Palisades Fire grew from the blaze six days earlier, said Jerod Gunsberg, a California criminal defense attorney with experience in arson cases.
Fire department examines its own response
The department found that there was a delay in communicating evacuation orders to the public, resulting in spontaneous evacuations without traffic control that caused residents to block routes to the fire. The incident command had to be frequently relocated to escape the fire front, the report said.
The first evacuation orders came 40 minutes after some homes were already burning, reporting by The Associated Press has found.
The department could not effectively recall off-duty personnel, and some fire chiefs had limited experience with “managing an incident of such complexity,” the report said. Most firefighters worked for more than 36 hours without rest.
Second fire remains under investigation
The Eaton Fire broke out the same day in the community of Altadena, destroying more than 9,400 homes and killing 19 people. Investigators have not officially determined a cause, but the federal government sued utility Southern California Edison last month, alleging that its equipment sparked the fire.
An outside review released in September found that a lack of resources and outdated policies for sending emergency alerts led to delayed evacuation warnings.
The report commissioned by Los Angeles County supervisors said a series of weaknesses, including “outdated policies, inconsistent practices and communications vulnerabilities,” hampered the county’s response.