OAN Staff James Meyers
9:47 AM – Friday, January 10, 2025
A homeless man has been arrested on suspicion of arson close to where one of the wildfires destroying Los Angeles began, after brave residents tackled him as he was using what appeared to be a “flamethrower.”
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The unidentified suspect was seen riding around Woodland Hills on a bicycle on Thursday afternoon setting fire to multiple old Christmas trees and garbage cans at the same time as the Kenneth Fire started, local residents said.
Renata Grinshpun told KTLA she was in her backyard when she heard a car screech to a stop and a man yelling, “Neighbors, he’s trying to start a fire! Call 911!’”
She saw the suspect carrying a large “propane tank or a flamethrower,” with other witnesses describing it as a blowtorch, as he tried to torch the area.
Neighbors jumped into action and cornered the man as he tried to ride off, as caught in part in a video, with one man demanding: “Put it down!”
“We really banded together as a group,” Grinshpun told KTLA. “A few gentlemen surrounded him and got him on his knees. They got some zip ties, a rope and we were able to do a citizens’ arrest.”
According to Fox 11, another witness said that the suspect was “very focused on moving forward.”
“He was like, ‘I can’t stop. I can’t stop. I’m not putting this down. I’m doing this,’” the witness said.
“And we’re like, ‘We can’t be doing that right now.’”
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) did confirm an arson investigation has begun.
After being asked if the Kenneth Fire was started by an arsonist, LAPD Senior Lead Officer Sean Dinse told KTLA during a press conference that “At this time, that’s what we believe. It’s being investigated as a crime.”
However, the LAPD stated on X late Thursday: “We CANNOT confirm any connection to any fire by this suspect at this time.”
Furthermore, no charges have appeared to have been filed yet.
The Kenneth Fire started around 2:30 p.m. and burned over 960 acres and continues to destroy Ventura County with 0% containment as of Friday morning.
Additionally, the Los Angeles Fire Department initially issued mandatory evacuation orders for the area known as Hidden Hills, but downgraded that to warnings, Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley said in an update Thursday night.
Currently, at least 20 people were arrested Wednesday and Thursday morning for looting homes that were abandoned by the destructive wildfires, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
In total, five separate fires sparked Tuesday morning, and days later have obliterated almost 30,000 acres (47 square miles) in Los Angeles county, causing mass destruction and evacuations.
Over 130,000 people have been evacuated due to the fires.
The biggest blaze, the Palisades Fire, has burned nearly 20,000 acres alongside the coast and destroyed more than 5,000 homes and structures in its path.
The Eaton Fire has now destroyed or damaged between 4,000 and 5,000 homes as the growing blaze exploded to 13,690 acres on Thursday, according to officials.
The cause of the fires remain unknown and are under investigation.
At least 10 people have been killed, with the death toll expected to increase.
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