Suspect charged with igniting deadly Los Angeles Palisades Fire

9/10/2025 6:30

A man was arrested in Florida on charges of intentionally igniting what would become California's devastating Palisades Fire, which killed 12 people and wiped out a wealthy enclave of Los Angeles at the start of the year, the U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday. According to prosecutors, Jonathan Rinderknecht started a fire near a hiking trail in the mountains near Pacific Palisades a few minutes after midnight on January 1 after he completed a

shift driving an Uber car.



Los Angeles firefighters had thought they had quickly extinguished that blaze, known as the Lachman Fire. But it erupted anew on January 7 after smoldering underground for a week, becoming the Palisades Fire, according to federal investigators.



The fire scorched more than 23,000 acres (9,308 hectares), decimating Pacific Palisades, a mostly wealthy residential neighborhood overlooking the ocean.

It was among the most destructive fires in the city's history, destroying some 6,000 structures around Los Angeles, causing about $150 billion in damages, and was simultaneous with another huge destructive fire in nearby Altadena known as the Eaton Fire.