Federal officials have charged a 29-year-old Florida man with deliberately setting the Palisades Fire that ravaged Los Angeles in January, killing 12 people and causing an estimated $150 billion in damages. The finding underscores that human malice—not climate change—sparked one of the city’s most destructive blazes.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, a registered Democrat, is accused of igniting the fire near a popular hiking trail in a state park above Pacific Palisades on New Year’s Day, writes The New York Post. Within hours, the flames roared through the hillsides, scorching more than 23,000 acres, destroying over 6,000 structures across the affluent coastal community, and forcing nearly three weeks of grueling firefighting efforts.
“Rinderknecht started a fire in Pacific Palisades on New Year’s Day — a blaze that eventually turned into one of the most destructive fires in Los Angeles history, causing death and widespread destruction,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli.
🚨Bill Essayli REVEALS how the Palisades arsonist was caught:
“This was the incredible work of the ATF and our prosecutors. We geolocated the suspect to the exact origin of the fire — no one else was there. Every other cause has been eliminated.” pic.twitter.com/tUo4NN4xj8
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) October 9, 2025
Investigators emphasized that the blaze was “maliciously” set, challenging assumptions that climate change–driven droughts and winds were the root cause. While environmental conditions contributed to the fire’s rapid spread, officials maintain its origin lies in deliberate arson, not natural forces.
California Governor Gavin Newsom praised the arrest.
Today’s arrest of 29-year-old Florida resident Jonathan Rinderknecht marks an important step toward uncovering how the horrific Palisades Fire began and bringing closure to the thousands of Californians whose lives were upended. pic.twitter.com/aSBRgcvSCf
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) October 8, 2025
During the fires, Newsom did not blame arson. Instead, he tried to pin the blaze on climate change.
A day after the Palisades fire started Gavin Newsom was already blaming climate change for the fire and local officials for the lack of water.
California spends billions each year on fighting climate change but having water and working fire trucks apparently are not priorities. pic.twitter.com/oc7p0lheTy
— MAZE (@mazemoore) October 8, 2025
The governor wasn’t the only prominent Democrat to blame the fire on the weather.
80,000 people told to evacuate.
Blazes 0% contained.
Eight months since the area has seen rain.
The scale of damage and loss is unimaginable.
Climate change is real, not “a hoax.”
Donald Trump must treat this like the existential crisis it is. pic.twitter.com/TDyZZEPmoI
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) January 8, 2025
The Palisades inferno erupted alongside the Eaton Fire, which killed 19 people and leveled nearby neighborhoods. Authorities have not yet disclosed the Eaton Fire’s cause, but the twin disasters crippled Southern California, leaving blocks of homes reduced to ash and residents displaced for weeks.
Rinderknecht was arrested in Florida and will be extradited to California to face prosecution. Officials say the case stands as a stark reminder that many catastrophic wildfires often trace back to human recklessness or intent, not climate change.
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Apply same for Eatton fire due E from PP then same timeline
gruesome was “surprised” because of the FACT that it was a person who intentionally and maliciously set the fires. While “climate change” might have aggravated the situation it was NOT the proximate cause.
Someone needs to ask gruesome how this “brings closure” to those whose lives were destroyed, especially the 12 who died.