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Trial begins for man accused of sparking LA’s deadly Palisades fire

Published 8 June 2026 · general

Jonathan Rinderknecht is accused of starting the blaze that became Los Angeles’s deadliest and destructive wildfire The trial of a 29-year-old charged with sparking a

Jonathan Rinderknecht is accused of starting the blaze that became Los Angeles’s deadliest and destructive wildfire The trial of a 29-year-old charged with sparking a wildfire that went on to become the deadly Palisades inferno, the most destructive blaze in Los Angeles history, is set to begin on Monday in a case that has gripped the city as Angelenos seek answers more than a year after the deadly fire.

Jonathan Rinderknecht, an occasional Uber driver, is accused of starting a small blaze on New Year’s Day 2025, later dubbed the Lachman fire. Although the

Los Angeles fire department extinguished the fire on 2 January, it reignited five days later due to high winds and tinderbox conditions after burning undetected

deep in the dry hillsides. Continue reading...

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