LOS ANGELES — The most destructive inferno in Los Angeles history, which charred a devastating path through Pacific Palisades and Malibu in early January, was a flare-up of a fire that an Uber driver intentionally set days earlier near a popular hiking area, federal prosecutors alleged Wednesday.

Authorities announced the arrest of the Uber driver, 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht, who is suspected of setting the initial fire early New Year’s Day that eventually became the Palisades fire. Rinderknecht, of Florida, who was arrested Tuesday, was charged with destruction of property by means of fire and faces a minimum of five years in federal prison.

Among the evidence collected from Rinderknecht’s digital devices was an image he generated on ChatGPT depicting a burning city, said Bill Essayli, acting U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, at a news conference Wednesday.

“While we cannot undo the damage and destruction that was done, we hope his arrest and the charges against him bring some measure of justice to the victims of this horrific tragedy,” Essayli said.

The finding affirms a long-suspected theory among fire experts and comes after a nine-month probe into the cause of the Palisades fire, which charred 23,400 acres and leveled more than 6,800 structures, including many homes. Twelve people died in the fire.

The first fire, called the Lachman fire, was reported about 12:17 a.m. on New Year’s Day on a hillside above Pacific Palisades by a resident whose home is about two blocks from the popular Skull Rock trail.

Some residents said they saw fireworks in the area on Jan. 1, but authorities said they don’t believe fireworks were a factor. Rinderknecht allegedly started the fire with an open flame — “likely a lighter” that set fire to vegetation or paper, according to an affidavit by an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Essayli said Rinderknecht drove to the Skull Rock trailhead after dropping off a passenger nearby. Two of his passengers later told law enforcement that he appeared agitated and angry that night.

Rinderknecht, who once lived in the neighborhood, parked his car and attempted to contact a former friend via Facebook Messenger at about 11:38 p.m., according to the affidavit.

At the base of the trail, a sign reads “Danger” and “No Fires/Smoking.” Rinderknecht walked up a narrow dirt path to an area known as the Hidden Buddha clearing at the top of the hill, a place he had frequently visited before, a former friend told investigators.

Rinderknecht used his iPhone to take videos at the Hidden Buddha clearing and listened to a French rap song “Un Zder, Un The,” according to the affidavit. The music video for the song, which the affidavit described as about despair and bitterness, shows a trash can being lit on fire. Rinderknecht had listened to the song nine times in the four days before he allegedly set the fire, the affidavit said.

University of California, San Diego cameras that monitor the area first captured signs of fire at 12:12 a.m. Rinderknecht immediately placed a call to 911, but it did not go through, according to the affidavit.

In the five minutes after he allegedly set the fire, prosecutors said Rinderknecht called 911 several times but didn’t get through because he didn’t have cell service. When he finally reached 911, he was at the bottom of the hiking trail and reported the fire. By that time, a resident had already reported the blaze.

While on the phone with 911, Rinderknecht allegedly typed a question into ChatGPT: “Are you at fault if a fire is (lit) because of your cigarettes,” according to the affidavit.

Rinderknecht then got into his car and drove away from the fire, passing by fire engines screaming through the neighborhood. He later told investigators that he turned around and offered to help firefighters fight the blaze, according to the affidavit.

Although Rinderknecht was arrested in Florida, authorities said he lived in Southern California at the time of the fire and had a friend who lives near where the fire started.

He moved to Florida after the fire and made “false statements” to authorities, prosecutors said, saying he first saw the fire after he left the Hidden Buddha clearing and walked down the trail toward his car. However, authorities said GPS data from his phone showed he was standing in the clearing when he first called 911.

Rinderknecht could not be reached for comment and is in custody in Florida. It is not clear whether he has an attorney.

Water-dropping helicopters initially were not able to fly the night of the Lachman fire because of the wind, according to the agency, but around 1:40 a.m. they began launching an aerial attack with support crews on the ground. News footage captured the charge, with walls of flames towering over homes and firefighters with hoses running into backyards.

Shortly after 3:30 a.m., Los Angeles Fire Department officials reported they had stopped forward progress of the blaze.

A little over an hour later, the LAFD reported that firefighters had “completed the hose line around the perimeter of the fire and it is fully contained.” However, some firefighters remained at the site to mop up and ensure the fire didn’t flare up again. On Jan. 2, firefighters returned to the site to collect the fire hoses, saying that it appeared the fire was fully extinguished, according to the affidavit.

The announcement could place scrutiny on Los Angeles fire officials for their handling of the eight-acre fire, prompting questions about why they were not able to fully extinguish it before hurricane-force winds blew into the area and fanned an ember buried within the roots of dense vegetation.

“This affidavit puts the responsibility on the fire department. There needs to be a commission examining why this rekindled fire was allowed to reignite,” said Ed Nordskog, former head of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department’s arson unit.

LAFD officials declined to detail whether they conducted thermal imaging of the area, which agencies frequently perform to find hot spots during periods when there is no visible light or in conditions with heavy smog or mist.

Kenny Cooper, special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, who was involved in the probe, downplayed firefighters’ role in failing to prevent the rekindling, saying that the blaze burned deep within the ground and remained active for days.

“The person who started this fire is solely to blame,” he said. “I will never blame our brave firefighters when we know how this fire started.”

The Los Angeles Times reviewed available footage from UC San Diego cameras monitoring the hillside over the next six days, and no new smoke was visible. However, a source with knowledge of the evidence, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said investigators obtained proof that smoke was coming out of the ground between Jan. 1 and Jan. 7.

By midmorning on Jan. 7, firefighters were back at the same Palisades hillside amid hurricane-force winds fighting what would become a much larger inferno: the Palisades fire.

“More than 9 months ago, our city faced one of the most devastating periods our region had ever seen,” L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement. “Lives were tragically lost. Thousands of homes were destroyed. Our heroic firefighters fought the blaze valiantly with no rest. Each day that families are displaced is a day too long and as we are working tirelessly to bring Angelenos home, we are also working towards closure and towards justice — and today is a step forward in that process.”

Fire experts say it’s possible for a blaze to rekindle days and even months after an initial fire is thought to be extinguished, though that isn’t typical. Embers can get buried in tree roots or underbrush covered by heavy ash and then later be freed by strong winds.

Some other destructive fires in recent decades have also been restarts of older fires.

The immense Oakland Hills fire in 1991, which destroyed 2,500 structures, exploded after firefighters believed they contained a six-acre fire the day before. Firefighters left equipment at the scene but did not continuously monitor it. Winds picked up, and the conflagration consumed homes.

The Maui fire, the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century, killed at least 101 people and also ignited from an earlier brush fire caused by downed power lines that firefighters believed they had snuffed.

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