LOS ANGELES - A person is being detained in connection with the 1,325-acre Palisades Fire in the Santa Monica Mountains has been arrested, officials announced Monday.

Investigators have deemed the cause of the fire, which started Friday night in a remote area off Michael Lane and Palisades Court in Pacific Palisades, as suspicious. The flames spread through vegetation that hasn’t burned in half a century.

Arson investigators detained and released one person on Saturday but a second individual was later arrested, Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Ralph Terrazas said during a Monday news conference.

Terrazas indicated suspicions grew when an additional burn area emerged Saturday afternoon north of the original fire.

“We do feel we have the right person,” Terrazas said. “Anytime you have multiple points of origin, your first thought is, ‘This is not natural,’” he said.

The unnamed suspect was being treated at a hospital for smoke inhalation, Terrazas said.

The fire had burned 1,325 acres but has not been surrounded, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Story Date: May 26, 2021