Los Angeles
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An arrest has been made in connection with the deadly Los Angeles fire that ravaged parts of the Pacific Palisades earlier this year, a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation tells CNN.
Authorities are expected to announce details of the charges today.
The fire burned thousands of homes and killed 12 people when it tore through the Los Angeles area in January.
The official determination for the blaze was previously “under investigation.”
California Attorney General Rob Bonta told CNN earlier this year there were “some indications that arson is a possibility that we have to be open to.”
Fifteen members of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ National Response Team headed up the investigation into the fire’s “cause and origins,” according to ATF deputy assistant director Tim Jones.
The Palisades Fire began the morning of January 7. Six days earlier, there had been another fire in the same vicinity, according to satellite images and dispatch recordings analyzed by CNN. That fire had been reported contained within hours by local firefighters after growing to about eight acres, according to alerts from the LA fire department, which noted a team would work to ensure no flare-ups occurred.
The proximity of the two fires had prompted questions as to whether winds could have rekindled smoldering debris left from New Year’s Eve fireworks to trigger the Palisades Fire, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle and the Washington Post.
The Palisades wildfire is the ninth deadliest wildfire in state history, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The deadly inferno in Los Angeles is the third-most destructive wildfire in Southern California history, destroying thousands of homes and businesses and burning more than 23,000 acres.
The fire was anticipated to be among the costliest wildfires in the history of the United States, a climate expert predicted.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
