A 29 year-old man has been arrested and charged with starting the blaze that became the Palisades fire, which killed 12 and destroyed more than 6,800 structures in Los Angeles in January.
Jonathan Rinderknecht was arrested on Tuesday and charged with destruction of property by means of fire. Investigators allege that Rinderknecht intentionally started what became the Lachman fire soon after midnight on Jan. 1. The fire burned underground before eventually becoming the Palisades fire, which broke out on Jan. 7.
Rinderknecht, who once lived in the Pacific Palisades, generated an image on ChatGPT months before the fire, depicting what Acting United States Attorney Bill Essayli described as “a dystopian painting showing in part a burning forest and a crowd fleeing from it.” The suspect, investigators said, also repeatedly listened to a rap song— the music video for which included objects being set alight—in the days before the fire, and while walking up the trail where he allegedly set the blaze.
While the fire has been found to be caused by a person, it’s clear climate change helped fuel it. One study from the University of California, Los Angeles noted that the city had faced “climate whiplash”, a climate change driven phenomenon that intensifies precipitation totals in wet years, and drought in dry years. After facing two wet seasons, during which L.A. recorded roughly a full year’s worth of rain in a single 24-hour period, the region faced severe drought in the six months preceding the fire—recieving only three-hundredths of an inch of precipitation. The rain fueled the growth of grasses and shrubs, before drought turned it into kindling.
Strong Santa Ana winds, which have long been a staple in the region, reached hurricane strength, further propelling the flames. Back in January, a study from World Weather Attribution found that, though the fires were likely influenced by a number of factors, climate change made the adverse weather conditions that fueled the flames 35% more likely.
If convicted, Rinderknecht would face a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
“The complaint alleges that a single person’s recklessness caused one of the worst fires Los Angeles has ever seen, resulting in death and widespread destruction in Pacific Palisades,” Essayli said in a press conference announcing the arrest. “While we cannot bring back what victims lost, we hope this criminal case brings some measure of justice to those affected by this horrific tragedy.”
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