A man was arrested in Florida on charges of intentionally igniting what would become California's devastating Palisades Fire, which killed 12 people and wiped out a wealthy enclave of Los Angeles at the start of the year, the US Justice Department said on Wednesday.

According to prosecutors, Jonathan Rinderknecht started a fire near a hiking trail in the mountains near Pacific Palisades a few minutes after midnight on January 1, after he completed a shift driving an Uber car.

Los Angeles firefighters had thought they had quickly extinguished that blaze, known as the Lachman Fire. But it erupted anew on January 7 after smoldering underground for a week, becoming the Palisades Fire, according to federal investigators.

Rinderknecht, 29, repeatedly called 911 on January 1 before successfull

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