Source: SFGate
“Law enforcement officials have arrested a Florida man in connection with the start of the deadly Palisades Fire in Los Angeles in January. Federal officials arrested Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, on Tuesday in Florida on suspicion of starting the conflagration that eventually burned over 6,700 structures and left 12 people dead. In a press conference on Wednesday, acting U.S. Attorney Bilal ‘Bill’ Essayli said Rinderknecht faces federal charges of destruction of property by means of fire, facing up to 20 years in federal prison. Rinderknecht is accused of igniting a fire in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day on a hilltop in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, along the Temescal Ridge Trail. That small fire, dubbed the Lachman Fire, was extinguished on the surface by firefighters but smoldered for days underground before high winds and dry weather helped reignite nearby vegetation. That so-called holdover fire became the Palisades Fire on Jan. 7.” (10/08/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/la/article/palisades-fire-arrest-21090578.php