A 29-year-old suspect has been arrested and accused of “maliciously starting” the deadly Palisades Fire that killed a dozen people earlier this year.
The complaint against Jonathan Rinderknecht alleges that he started a fire on New Year's Day, which turned into one of the most destructive fires in Los Angeles history. He is charged with destruction of property by means of fire, or arson.
The fire in the Pacific Palisades area destroyed over 6,800 buildings and killed 12 people on January 7. It was not fully contained until January 31.
Announcing the news on X Wednesday, Bill Essayli, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, said that among the evidence collected from Rinderknecht’s digital devices was an image he generated on ChatGPT depicting a burning city.
“While we cannot undo the damage and destruction that was done, we hope his arrest and the charges against him bring some measure of justice to the victims of this horrific tragedy,” Essayli said.
According to the AG’s office, on the evening of December 31 2024, Rinderknecht was working as an Uber driver.
After dropping off a passenger in Pacific Palisades, Rinderknecht – who once lived in that neighborhood – drove towards Skull Rock Trailhead, parked and then walked up the trail. He then used his iPhone to take videos at a nearby hilltop area and listened to a French rap song – to which he had listened repeatedly in previous days – whose music video included things being lit on fire.
Rinderknecht later used his phone to call 911 several times but could not get through, prosecutors said. When he finally did he was at the bottom of the hiking trail, but the fire had already been reported.
He then fled in his car, passing fire engines attending the scene, but turned around to follow them, according to authorities. Arriving back the scene he then hiked up the same trail from earlier to watch the fire fighters – and took video.
During a joint press conference, held by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Los Angeles Police Department, Wednesday, Essayli said that Rinderknecht had lied to police in an interview later in January.
However officials refused to reveal further details of conversations they had had with the suspect about a potential motive.
“I wish we could get into someone’s head, but we can’t. People do evil things for whatever reason,” said Kenny Cooper, special agent in the LA field office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Rinderknecht's initial appearance is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. in U.S. District Court in Orlando. According to authorities, he relocated to Florida following the fires in Los Angeles. He has no prior criminal history, Essayli said Wednesday.
An outside review of the blazes 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.
Investigators are still working to determine the cause of the Palisades blaze or the Eaton Fire, which broke out the same day in the community of Altadena and killed 18 people.
Both fires burned for days, reducing entire neighborhoods to rubble and ash and ultimately spread across more than 40,000 acres – larger than the land area of Washington D.C. – with the flames having been fanned by a fierce windstorm known as the Santa Ana winds.
The economic losses from the fires may reach $275 billion, according to previous estimates.
The fires became somewhat of a political football, with tensions between President Donald Trump and Gavin Newsom being tested regularly – as each man blamed the other for the devastating impact of the disaster.
In January 2025, Trump blamed the state's water and forest management policies, while Newsom blasted the federal government, which controls most of the state's forest land, for failing to act.
Following the announcement of Rinderknecht’s arrest, Newsom thanked the Justice Department, and hailed “an important step” toward determining how the horrific fire had started and “bringing closure to the thousands of survivors whose lives were upended.”
“This tragedy will never be forgotten — lives were lost, families torn apart, and entire communities forever changed — and there must be accountability,” he wrote on X.
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