--- title: Man Charged with Intentionally Starting the Blaze That Became the Palisades Fire | TIME description: 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. canonical: https://time.com/video/n6Mm82xD/ og:title: Man Charged with Intentionally Starting the Blaze That Became the Palisades Fire og:description: 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. og:url: https://time.com/video/n6Mm82xD/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/n6Mm82xD/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Man Charged with Intentionally Starting the Blaze That Became the Palisades Fire twitter:description: 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. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/n6Mm82xD/poster.jpg?width=720 --- * U.S. # Man Charged with Intentionally Starting the Blaze That Became the Palisades Fire > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. A TIME subscription provides full access to that journalism in print and digital, from $20 a year, and can be cancelled at any time. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-sub-2026q3/newsletters?i=a5434535-9ca6-4bda-8409-824ac7d00574&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) * TIME Subscriptions: [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-sub-2026q3/subscribe?i=a5434535-9ca6-4bda-8409-824ac7d00574&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Man Charged with Intentionally Starting the Blaze That Became the Palisades Fire [Watch (HLS stream): Man Charged with Intentionally Starting the Blaze That Became the Palisades Fire](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/n6Mm82xD.m3u8) (3:24)  _Published 2025-10-08. 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._ --- Oct 10, 2025 12:20 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Georgia Man Charged In Connection With Fire That Led to Atlanta Bridge Collapse](/video/xbPZ19CC/) ### Georgia Man Charged In Connection With Fire That Led to Atlanta Bridge Collapse [California Mosque Fire Suspect Charged With Hate Crime](/video/y1LcKX8g/) ### California Mosque Fire Suspect Charged With Hate Crime [First Arson Charge Filed In San Diego Fires](/video/O5RdbZmD/) ### First Arson Charge Filed In San Diego Fires --- ## Transcript [00:00] Investigators determined that the Palisades Fire reported on January 7th was caused by [00:06] an intentionally set fire near a viewpoint along [00:10] the Temescal Ridge Trail in Topanga State Park on January 1st. [00:14] The fire was a holdover fire, [00:17] meaning it was deeply seated and dense vegetation and roots, [00:21] and continued to burn undetected until catastrophic weather ensued, [00:26] resulting in the Palisades Fire. [00:28] Today, we are announcing the arrest of 29 year old Jonathan Rinderknecht [00:33] for igniting a fire that ultimately burned down the Palisades earlier this year, [00:38] killing 12 people, destroying more than 6800 structures, [00:43] both homes and businesses, [00:44] and damaging over 1000 more buildings. [00:48] The complaint, unsealed today, [00:50] charges the defendant with destruction of property by means of fire, [00:55] a felony that carries [00:57] a mandatory minimum five year federal prison sentence [01:01] and is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison. [01:05] The defendant was arrested yesterday on [01:08] a federal criminal complaint near his Florida residence. [01:12] And he's expected to make his initial appearance [01:14] today in the federal court in Orlando, Florida. [01:18] The allegations in the affidavit are supported by digital evidence, [01:22] including the defendant's ChatGPT prompt of [01:26] a dystopian painting showing in part a a burning forest and a crowd fleeing from it. [01:33] Late last New Year's Eve, [01:35] Rinderknecht returned to Pacific Palisades after [01:39] working the evening shift as an Uber driver. [01:43] Two of his passengers told law enforcement that he appeared agitated and angry [01:47] that night after dropping off a passenger in Pacific Palisades. [01:52] Rinderknecht parked his car and tried and failed to contact a former friend. [01:57] He exited the car, [01:59] walked up a nearby trail, [02:01] took iPhone videos at a nearby hilltop, [02:05] and listened to a rap song whose music video including objects being lit on fire. [02:11] The defendant had listened to this song and watched its music video [02:14] repeatedly In the days leading up to the Lochman fire. [02:18] 12 minutes into the New year, [02:20] environmental sensing platforms indicated that a fire had started. [02:26] It took the defendants several tries to contact 911 to report the fire. [02:32] He fled the scene in his car, [02:34] but turned around after passing fire engines, [02:36] driving in the opposite direction to fight the to fight the fire. [02:40] He is charged with starting a fire on January 1st, [02:45] which is the fire that burned down the Palisades. [02:49] It did take a week to to reignite, [02:52] but he is charged with starting the Palisades Fire. [02:54] He started it on January 1st. [02:56] So essentially that fire was burning undetected underground [03:00] until enough oxygen source through the catastrophic winds was introduced. [03:05] And then it was able to reignite. [03:07] Um, and so there was specific fire patterns that our investigators found. [03:13] They were able to find debris and patterns that [03:16] showed that from that specific point of the fire, [03:20] that it reignited and then started the Palisades fire. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Man Charged with Intentionally Starting the Blaze That Became the Palisades Fire","description":"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. \n\nJonathan 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. 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