The “climate change” blame game following LA’s devastating wildfires is being disrupted by the arrest of a deranged arsonist accused of setting or stoking some of the most dangerous flames over the past three days.
Police in Los Angeles County have arrested a man they believe armed himself with a blowtorch and began lighting up a fire that began in the Woodland Hills section of the city just north of Palisades. The suspect is a homeless man in his 30s, according to Charles Dinsel, senior lead officer at the LAPD, who told media outlets that it took his force just 30 minutes to locate the suspect after the first Woodland Hills fire broke out. “A suspect was detained over in Woodland Hills area by citizens,” and was taken to Topanga station, he said on Thursday. Asked if he believed the homeless man deliberately set the fire, Dinsel replied, “At this time, that’s what we believe, yes.” The area is being treated as a crime scene, and the act is “being investigated as a crime,” most likely arson.
Witnesses at the scene called 911 around 4:30 pm to report a man they said was attempting to set a fire near the 21700 block of Ybarra Road. That area has been “closed off” for further investigation, Dinsel told reporters. The Kenneth fire, which has now consumed over 1,000 acres in the West Hills area, was reportedly started in the glitzy enclave of Calabasas, home to an endless number of celebrities now displaced as a result. A senior LAPD officer told NewsNation that citizens restrained the homeless man for “about 20 to 30 minutes” after they witnessed him allegedly start the fire and until officers could take him into custody. Still, LAPD’s Drake Madison cautioned, “We cannot confirm any connection to any fire at this time,” the Daily Mail reported.
The arrest blunts allegations by mainstream media outlets that environmental changes are to blame for the historic wildfire tearing through America’s second-largest city. Some of the world’s biggest outlets, from the Guardian to the New York Times, attribute increased fire activity along the West Coast to the melting of the Arctic ice caps as well as jet stream shifts they say are worsening the wind conditions when fires strike. The arrest of a sick individual exacerbating the crisis was fertile ground for conservatives seeking to remind LA’s liberal do-gooders that the state’s record-breaking homeless population now has played a role in the catastrophe. “Liberals have focused on climate change to shift blame away from years of mismanagement by Democrat leadership in L.A. and the state concerning fire readiness,” Andy Ngo, a conservative commentator, wrote on X.
Together, the fires across Palisades, Eaton, and western parts of LA have destroyed over 10,000 structures and displaced thousands, from Paris Hilton to Hunter Biden, who contribute heavily to the city’s tax base. Without them, it’s an open question whether Los Angeles will be able to afford its swelling annual budget, especially in light of reports that Mayor Karen Bass, under fire for her handling of the city’s response, approved cutting $17 million from the fire department’s budget last year.
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