Palisades Fire suspect pleads not guilty to federal charges
By Matthew Rodriguez
The Florida man facing federal charges for the deadly Palisades Fire pleaded not guilty during his first court appearance in Los Angeles on Thursday.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, who lived in the Pacific Palisades in the past, was charged with three counts related to the alleged arson, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. If convicted as charged, Rinderknecht faces a mandatory minimum of five years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of 45 years.
His next pretrial court hearing is scheduled for Nov. 12. The jury trial will begin on Dec. 16.
Federal investigators said Rinderknecht allegedly ignited the Lachman Fire, six days before the Palisades Fire began. While firefighters quickly contained the Lachman Fire to about eight acres, the fire continued to smolder and burn underground roots. Federal prosecutors described it as a “holdover fire” that reignited amid the hurricane-force Santa Ana winds and quickly turned into the Palisades Fire.
“Although firefighters suppressed the [Lachman Fire], the fire continued to smolder and burn underground within the root structure of the dense vegetation,” Essayli said. “It smoldered underground for about a week until, on Jan. 7, heavy winds caused this underground fire to surface and spread above ground, causing what became known as the Palisades Fire.”
Professor Craig Clements, a meteorology professor and director of the Wildfire Research Center at San Jose State University, described this process as a “ground fire.”
“What happens is a surface fire, which is typically what we see, in the grass and the shrubs can get put out by firefighters and it’s fully contained and everything on the surface has been extinguished,” Clements said. “But, it can actually burn into the root system and burn underground, where you would not see any smoke and continue to smolder there for multiple days. A big wind event could then add more oxygen and cause the fire to reignite and bring the fire to the surface.”
Rinderknecht’s attorney, Steven Haney, said he believes the government does not have a strong case against his client and placed the blame on the Los Angeles Fire Department.
“The whole theory is that the Palisades Fire was a reignition of the Lachman Fire,” Haney said. “Well, what about what happened between Jan. 1 and Jan. 7? Jonathan wasn’t out there with a fire hose putting that fire out at the Lachman location. The fire department was. So, why are they blaming him for whatever the fire department didn’t do ?”
The Palisades Fire was fully contained on Jan. 31, 24 days after it started. It is the third most destructive fire in state history, with 6,837 structures destroyed and 973 damaged. It is one of the deadliest in Los Angeles County history, killing 12 people and injuring four others.
