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Published on January 15, 2025
String of Arsons Plague Los Angeles, Suspects Detained for Deliberate Fires Amidst CrisisSource: CAL FIRE_Official, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Los Angeles has been grappling with a spate of deliberate fires, with the Los Angeles Police Department arresting at least four people for arson amidst the catastrophic blazes that have swept through the region. According to KTLA, a suspect detained Tuesday in Pacoima confessed to setting a fire because he "liked the smell of burning leaves," a detail that emerged during a press conference with LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell.

In a related incident, a woman was apprehended late Tuesday evening after reportedly setting multiple piles of rubbish ablaze near Santa Monica Boulevard and Vermont Avenue, during which she expressed that she "enjoyed causing chaos and destruction," as detailed by ABC7.

These incidents were neither isolated nor confined with multiple reports of arson including calls to the California Highway Patrol about individuals setting fires alongside LA freeways and two other suspects who were arrested on Sunday and Monday over alleged involvement in small fires across the San Fernando Valley and West Los Angeles, as per NBC Los Angeles.

Whilst the city is enveloped by the fires, which have claimed lives, destroyed homes, and displaced thousands, Chief McDonnell called for continuous public vigilance in reporting any suspicious activity affirming that "there are people out there who this is what they do," in a statement obtained by Patch. The authorities, grappling with the dual challenges of containing the fires and managing the criminal activities emerging amidst the chaos, have yet to determine the causes of the major Eaton and Palisades fires, McDonnell added.