Investigators are beginning their work to determine the origin and cause of huge fires in the Los Angeles area.
The Palisades fire, the largest of three blazes still burning, may have been started by the reigniting of a New Year’s Eve firework, according to evidence reviewed by The Washington Post.
A beachfront property destroyed by the Palisades Fire is seen along Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California, on January 12, 2025. Investigators in Los Angeles are looking into possible causes of the LA wildfires. A beachfront property destroyed by the Palisades Fire is seen along Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California, on January 12, 2025. Investigators in Los Angeles are looking into possible causes of the LA wildfires. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images
The Context
The fires have destroyed thousands of homes and businesses and killed at least 24 people.
Powerful winds have been largely to blame for turning wildfires that ignited last week into huge infernos that leveled whole neighborhoods around the city.
In all, the fires had consumed almost 40,000 acres. The Palisades fire was 13 percent contained by Sunday night, while containment on the Eaton Fire had reached 27 percent. A third blaze, the Hurst fire, was 95 percent contained by Sunday night.
What To Know
Firefighters had responded to a fire north of the Pacific Palisades neighborhood shortly after midnight on January 1, which neighbors believe was sparked by fireworks, according to the Post.
The Los Angeles Fire Department reported at 4:46 a.m. that day that the fire was contained after burning eight acres and that mop-up operations would continue “to ensure no flare ups.”
The Post used satellite imagery to identify the fire’s burn scar. The newspaper reported that satellite imagery taken shortly after the Palisades fire began on Tuesday morning indicates the origin of the smoke overlapped with the burn scar from the New Year’s Eve fire.
A spokesperson for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which is leading the investigation, told the newspaper: “ATF certified fire investigators did an initial survey of the area but the investigation has not begun.” Newsweek has contacted the ATF for comment via email outside normal business hours.
Another common cause for fires is ignition by downed utility lines.
Investigators are looking into whether electrical equipment sparked the Eaton and Hurst fires.
The Los Angeles Times reported that investigators are looking into whether a Southern California Edison electrical transmission tower was the point of origin of the Eaton fire, which has burned more than 14,000 acres in the hills near Pasadena.
Southern California Edison filed a report with the California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday, saying its analysis shows “no interruptions or operational/electrical anomalies in the 12 hours prior to the fire’s reported start time until more than one hours after the reported start time of the fire.”
Investigators are also looking into whether downed electrical equipment was involved in sparking the Hurst Fire near Sylmar, the northernmost neighborhood in Los Angeles.
The utility company issued a report on Friday saying that a downed powerline was discovered at a tower in the vicinity of the fire, but that it “does not know whether the damage observed occurred before or after the start of the fire.”
Police believe the Kenneth fire, which started in the San Fernando Valley on Thursday and has since been fully contained, was intentionally set.
A man was taken into custody in the Woodland Hills neighborhood not long after that fire broke out. Juan Sierra, 33, was arrested by officers after he was seen attempting to start a fire, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing a law enforcement email.
Sierra was arrested on suspicion of a probation violation, but he is a “person of interest” in the Kenneth fire, Ventura County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Monica Smith told the newspaper.
What People Are Saying
Michael Gollner, a professor of mechanical engineering and fire scientist at the University of California at Berkeley, told the Post: “We know that fires rekindle and transition from smoldering to flaming. It’s certainly possible that something from that previous [New Year’s Eve] fire, within a week, had rekindled and caused the ignition [of the Palisades fire].”
What’s Next
Investigations into blazes as large and devastating as the fires that have ravaged the Los Angeles area over the past week can take months, if not longer, to complete. It may some time before investigators issue their findings on the causes of the fires.
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