A man who fled California for Florida has been charged with maliciously starting what eventually became known as the Palisades Fire , one of the most destructive wildfires in Los Angeles history, according to the Department of Justice.

Jonathan Rinderknecht, of Melbourne, Florida, was arrested Tuesday and charged with destruction of property by means of fire, according to the Department of Justice.

Insured losses from the devastating Palisades Fire alone are projected to range between $20 billion and $25 billion, according to a January report from Verisk’s Extreme Event Solutions group, a leading global provider of data analytics and technology for the insurance industry.

In total, there were more than a dozen fires spanning multiple counties, but the Palisades and Eaton fires were th

See Full Page