A 29-year-old man charged with sparking the most destructive blaze in Los Angeles history likely used a lighter to start a fire on New Year’s Day that smoldered underground and reignited almost a week later, killing 12 people in a wealthy hillside neighbourhood, authorities said Wednesday.
Federal law enforcement officials charged Jonathan Rinderknecht with lighting the Jan. 1 fire that was extinguished by fire crews only to flare up days later during high winds, acting U.S. attorney Bill Essayli said during a news conference.
Rinderknecht was arrested in Florida on Tuesday and was due to appear in court Wednesday. He faces charges including malicious destruction by means of a fire, which carries a minimum sentence of five years in federal prison.
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