Prosecutors said Jonathan Rinderknecht, an Uber driver, maliciously started the fire near a popular hiking trail.
Federal authorities have announced the arrest of a 29-year-old Melbourne, Florida, man, accusing him of deliberately igniting a New Year’s Day fire that later erupted into the devastating Palisades wildfire, which burned for weeks and killed 12 people.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, an Uber driver, faces charges of maliciously starting the fire near a popular hiking trail. The blaze, set shortly after midnight on New Year’s, was a “holdover fire” that smoldered underground and then rekindled days later on Jan. 7, scorching 23,400 acres and destroying more than 6,800 structures in Pacific Palisades and Malibu, prosecutors said.
“While we cannot reverse the devastation, we hope this arrest brings some justice to those impacted by this tragedy,” U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said at a news conference on Wednesday morning.
The charges follow a nine-month investigation into the fire’s origins.
This story will be updated with additional details.
