On January 7, 2025, the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire broke out in Los Angeles County in strong winds, killing 31 people and destroying more than 16,000 structures according to CAL FIRE. Federal prosecutors charged a man with starting the New Year's Day fire that investigators say became the Palisades Fire, and his first trial ended in a mistrial. Fire officials attributed the Eaton Fire to Southern California Edison equipment in August 2026.
Jonathan Rinderknecht is charged, not convicted, and has pleaded not guilty. His federal retrial on a two count superseding indictment was set to begin November 2, 2026, according to the court docket as of October 30. The federal government's civil suit and homeowners' suits against Southern California Edison over the Eaton Fire are pending.
Federal prosecutors allege that Jonathan Rinderknecht, working as an Uber driver on the night of December 31, 2024, appeared agitated and angry to two passengers, then drove toward the Skull Rock Trailhead above Pacific Palisades and walked up the trail. He has denied the charges.
Environmental sensing platforms indicated the Lachman Fire had begun at 12:12 a.m. on January 1, 2025, according to the Justice Department. Firefighters quickly suppressed it, but investigators later concluded it kept smoldering underground in root systems.
CAL FIRE lists the Palisades Fire as starting at 10:30 a.m. on January 7, 2025 southeast of Palisades Drive. Investigators determined it was a holdover of the Lachman Fire that resurfaced in heavy winds, the Justice Department said. The Los Angeles Fire Department had jurisdiction.
CAL FIRE lists the Eaton Fire as starting at 6:18 p.m. on January 7, 2025 near Altadena Drive and Midwick Drive, under Los Angeles County Fire Department jurisdiction.
Pedro Pizarro, chief executive of Southern California Edison's parent company, said in January that the company believed its equipment could have been associated with the Eaton Fire's ignition, CalMatters reported.
Prosecutors allege Rinderknecht lied in a January 24, 2025 interview about where he was when he first saw the Lachman Fire, and that phone location data placed him about 30 feet from the fire.
CAL FIRE records both the Palisades and Eaton fires as contained at 10:48 a.m. on January 31, 2025, after 24 days. The Palisades Fire burned 23,448 acres and the Eaton Fire 14,021 acres.
After inspecting all structures in both footprints, CAL FIRE recorded 6,845 structures destroyed and 12 civilian deaths in the Palisades Fire, and 9,419 structures destroyed and 19 civilian deaths in the Eaton Fire.
The US Attorney's Office in Los Angeles filed a civil suit alleging that Southern California Edison's negligence caused the Eaton Fire and seeking more than 40 million dollars, including Forest Service costs for a fire that burned nearly 8,000 acres of Angeles National Forest. Edison said it would respond through the appropriate legal channels, CalMatters reported.
Rinderknecht, then of Melbourne, Florida, was arrested on a federal criminal complaint charging him with destruction of property by means of fire. The Justice Department announced the case on October 8 and said ATF led the investigation at the request of state and local authorities.
A federal grand jury indicted Rinderknecht on counts of destruction of property by means of fire, arson affecting property used in interstate commerce, and timber set afire. The Justice Department said he faced a five year mandatory minimum and 45 year maximum if convicted.
Rinderknecht pleaded not guilty to the federal charges in October 2025, City News Service reported.
Jury selection began in federal court in downtown Los Angeles. The defense argued there was no direct evidence that Rinderknecht set the fire.
Judge Anne Hwang declared a mistrial on the 13th day of trial after the jury could not reach a verdict, the court's minutes show, and reset the case for a new trial. ABC7 reported the jury split 10 to 2 in favor of acquittal. Prosecutors said they would retry the case, and the judge ordered him to remain in custody.
A status conference on July 15 was not held because Rinderknecht was not present, and it went ahead the next day, the court's minutes show. Prosecutors and the defense were preparing for a retrial then set for October 19, FOX 11 reported.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department released investigation reports, prepared jointly with CAL FIRE, concluding that the Eaton Fire was caused by electrical arcing on an out of service Southern California Edison transmission tower. It said the reports were redacted because the District Attorney's office was reviewing the evidence. An Edison spokesperson told ABC7 the company was reviewing the report.
A first superseding indictment with two counts was filed, the docket shows. Spectrum News reported that it dropped the timber count and limited the first count to the alleged setting of the Lachman Fire.
Rinderknecht pleaded not guilty to the superseding indictment, and the court set the retrial for November 2, 2026, moving it from October 19, the court's minutes and a next day order show.
At the final pretrial conference Judge Hwang denied three defense motions to limit evidence and a prosecution motion to admit evidence it described as the defendant's fixation on fire, and tentatively granted a prosecution request for a jury instruction about the Los Angeles Fire Department, the minutes show. A further status conference was set for October 29.
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Last updated 31 October 2026. Spotted an error? See corrections. Every event links to the record it comes from. Allegations are attributed to whoever made them.
