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Federal investigators say a Florida man has been arrested in connection with one of the most destructive wildfires in California history, a blaze that began as a New Year’s spark that charred some 7,000 structures and killed 12 people.

According to federal prosecutors, 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht allegedly ignited a fire just after midnight on Jan. 1 along the Temescal Ridge Trail above Pacific Palisades. What began as a small brush fire on federal land soon roared into an inferno that would later reignite as the Palisades Fire, scorching more than 200 acres across the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

In a strange twist, authorities say that after the fire, Rinderknecht turned to ChatGPT, reportedly

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