Days after the Pallisard and Eton fires exploded, LA County officials announced a string of arson arrests.
However, those charged were not accused of causing a devastating wildfire. Their flames were much smaller – a kind that might have been unnoticed if a massive strip of land had not yet risen in the flames.
From Irwindale to Brentwood, police said they discovered people burning dry Christmas trees, burning trash and burning dumpsters. Police say Kenneth’s fire became enraged over him, and one man was caught using a blow torch to burn shards from the western hill.
California’s fire season often causes a pair of misconceptions. The first is the assumption that homeless people are responsible for causing the greatest hell. A related recurring concern is that media attention in large wildfires encourages imitation.
The cause of the Palisade and Eaton fires is still under investigation, and the spark’s power lines are being scrutinized as one of the ignition points. Last week, sources said The Times said the Palisade fire may be “humans” but did not provide details.
Authorities say the recent increase in arson arrests was probably the result of an increase in public attention to dangerous, common small fires during extreme weather conditions. Ed Nordscog, a veteran arson investigator with the LA County Sheriff’s Department, said the city is burning to some extent, so people aren’t always calling 911 to report it.
“There are dozens of fires every day in LA, and a significant number of them are intentionally set,” Nordskog said.
Prosecutors and arson investigators say many of these everyday fires are set intentionally or accidentally by people experiencing homelessness or suffering from mental illness.
According to the police agency, there were at least nine suspects in a series of published arson arrests following the January 7 wildfire eruption.
Five of them appeared to be struggling with mental health issues and substance use, according to information shared by police and firefighters about individual cases. A criminal case against one suspect, Travis Grod has been suspended due to concerns about his ability to withstand trial.
The Fughesfire will burn chaparrals around Lake Castay on January 22nd.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
True culomaniacs – people with impulse disorders characterized by an obsessive need to burn things – exist, but they are rare breeds. Research has found that fewer than 10% of adults who initiate a fire meet the criteria for extinguishing fire.
According to an agency spokesperson, the LA County public defense attorney’s office represents seven defendants charged in recent weeks for setting up an arson fire in an emergency.
“We recognize the deep losses and the need for accountability caused by this wildfire,” public defense attorney Ricardo Garcia said in a statement. “Estimation of justice and innocence requires fairness and a legitimate process for all to ensure that the outcome is evidence-based.
Supporters have expressed concern that news of arsons for homeless people in the wake of a catastrophic fire will add to the stigmatization of some of LA County’s most vulnerable residents.
Sara Reyes, executive director of the Selah Neighborhood Homeless Coalition, understands that people are getting frustrated and looking for someone to take responsibility for in times of crisis, but confusing the two issues has helped anyone. He said not.
“It’s really another way to paint a wide range of brushes in a community where people are experiencing homelessness like other kinds,” she said. “Is this a camp issue? Yes, because people should go home.”
From 2018 to 2020, the number of fires related to homelessness has almost tripled, accounting for around 38% of all fires the department has responded in that time frame, according to previous time analysis. According to LAFD data, about a third of these fires were classified as Arsons. This does not include recent numbers.
Los Angeles police made 22 arson arrests in January. It’s almost twice as many as the number made in the same month last year, according to Deputy Director Alan Hamilton.
Such arrests were recorded in January 2023, with only eight people recorded in January 2022. Hamilton said he believes most fires set in LA will involve “warming and cooking fires” related to homelessness.
Los Angeles County Assistant Distatee. Maria Ramirez, who has years of experience overseeing arson indictments, said that fires set up for the sole purpose of injuring or causing damage to people is far more common than if they had involved the accused. He said it was not targeted. . ”
Based on the terms of the negotiated plea, diversion programs that allow eligible defendants to be housed in treatment facilities rather than prisons or prisons, have been found guilty of arson due to the risks they raise. Reject potential clients.
Ramirez said there are no locked facilities to deal with arsonists who have mental health issues.
“The only option is to send them to prison, but they haven’t addressed the mental health part of it.
Reyes reflected these frustrations and said that he would achieve nothing to treat a suspected homeless arson in a punitive manner.
“If a diversion program designed to provide care and compensation doesn’t incorporate people that are mental health issues, I don’t think it’s absolutely not set up to resolve the issue in the long term.” She said. .
Reyes said the Firestorm in LA has damaged much more homeless communities than the public recognizes. Over the past few weeks, she has noticed a sharp rise in people who cough hard from living outside with the rise in people suffering from infection.
She also said the fires created a new population of homeless people. He said that homeless people are over 60 years old and cannot afford to rebuild or relocate after losing everything.
“It’s like seeing the wreckage of the slowest train happen in real time,” she said.
In recent years, the only major LA wildfire linked to the homeless was the 2017 Skirball fire, where a camp fire destroyed six homes and other homes at Bel Air Hill.
Even smaller fires pose a great danger during extreme weather conditions, and those accused in recent weeks face charges of setting up an arson fire during an emergency and have a hard sentence.
The rise in public awareness has probably started from several arson incidents in recent weeks.
On January 9, residents of Los Angeles’ West Hills area were 33-year-olds, shortly after it was observed that the Kenneth fire had set the flames around five miles from where the 1,052 acres erupted. Juan Sierra was taken into custody.
Ventura County officials label Sierra as “an interested” in the fire, and he is only in custody on suspicion of a probation violation. Arson investigators have not yet presented a case to Ventura County prosecutors.
Similarly, residents detained a man suspected of causing a brush fire Monday afternoon near Chatsworth Reservoir. Lawmakers with the LA County Sheriff’s Office have arrested Alejandro Martinez, 41, on suspicion of arson.
“I’m grateful there wasn’t a strong wind, because it could have been very much worse,” said Gabe Cortez, a video journalist who captured the incident.
In Los Angeles, police arrested arson in connection with a small fire near the scene of a large flame still burning in parts of the city.
LAPD arrested Manuel Rodriguez, 35, on suspicion of causing a fire in a trash can behind a public library in Brentwood on January 13th.
Use garden hoses during the sunset fire to extinguish the flames of palm trees on Vista Street in Hollywood on January 8th.
(Jason Armand/Los Angeles Times)
A week later, police observed that 26-year-old Kevin Calderon escaped from a scene of a small brushfire that erupted in Griffith Park on January 20th, and that the Hollywood Hills Langon Canyon escaped for more than a week after the Sunset Fire. I did. Kevin Austin
Investigators lacked the possible causes for arresting homeless Calderon in connection with the fire, but he had a warrant for outstanding misdemeanors. The fire remains under investigation, Austin said.
Ramirez has released most of the county-wide arson announcements in recent weeks, and the District Attorney’s Office has attempted to balance it with providing information to the community without exacerbating Angelenos’ hardships. He said.
“This is what’s going on and we have to make it clear because if the individual who was setting the wood on fire didn’t stop, it could have caused another wildfire. Because there is,” she mentioned the incident in Azusa. “We need to shed light on the fact that there are individuals with mental health issues involved in this behavior.”
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