Were the California fires the result of arson?

 

Damage caused by the Eaton fire. NBC News/AP

As the California wildfires have raged, questions have been raised if the fires were natural occurrences or the result of arson. NBC News. Investigators are still looking at the cause of the series of wildfires that have burned thousands of acres and killed 24 people, and have only ruled out lightning as a cause. The Eaton fire, which burned 14,000 acres as of this writing, was likely caused by powerlines. During high winds, powerlines can collide which creates molten metal that can easily start a fire in dry conditions. The Palisades fire is not likely to be caused by power lines due to the fact that the fire started deep in the woods, 500 feet from a trailhead. It is possible that the fire was started by human action, though that does not mean it was intentional. Other, smaller fires may have been created by arsonists though. The Kenneth fire lead to an arrest by police after civilians detained a man they said started the fire, though he was not charged with the crime due to a lack of evidence. 

My Comment:

The fires in Los Angeles might have different causes for different fires and I thought it would be smart to cover them. I think some of these can easily be ruled out. I don't think for a second that this was directed energy weapons like the conspiracy theorists claim, that's too fantastical to believe. Lightning too can obviously be ruled out due to the weather conditions having no rain, let alone storms, to cause them. 

That leaves quite a few possibilities. I think that the Eaton fire was almost certainly "natural", which isn't the best term to use when talking about a powerlines fire. Obviously a powerline fire is human created, but it wasn't deliberate action. But given that the fire started near powerlines it would be extraordinary if it was caused by anything else. 

And I think that the Kenneth fire, which is now contained thankfully, was likely caused by an arsonist. The man arrested was not charged with that but there is a strong circumstantial case for his responsibility. He was seen starting a fire and was armed with fire starting tools. That won't hold up in a criminal case, but I am guessing if civil charged were ever filed against him, he would lose his case on the "preponderance of the evidence standard". 

That leaves the rest of the fires, most notably the biggest and still uncontrolled Palisades fire. That one is a true mystery and the only thing we can really rule out is lighting and powerlines. Given the location it's possible that it was an accidental fire caused by homeless people. It wouldn't take much, some sparks from a campfire, a stray cigarette butt, or someone screwing around with fire works, and then you have a major fire. 

It's possible it was started by a human deliberately as an act of arson as well. If so, we might not ever hear about it. The last thing folks want to do is confirm that one of California's worst disaster was caused by human action, on purpose, because the obvious threat of copycats. You could even argue that the Kenneth fire was a result of this phenomenon. 

And it's very possible that some of the other fires were caused by arson. There have been unconfirmed and confirmed reports of folks starting fires for whatever reason during this disaster. Some of those cases could be deliberate, but most of them seem to have been low scale and in a way that didn't really contribute to the firestorms. 

What I do know is that the fires in California are not due to a major conspiracy. This wasn't a BlackRock attack to try and buy up all the property in California and it wasn't one of America's enemies launching a major attack. Why? Because there would have been way more fires if that was the case. As large as these fires have been, they are not so large that I would think that there was coordinated actions to start them. 

As for the fires themselves, it's unclear how long this disaster is going to last. Of the three major fires, one of them, the Hurst fire, appears to be coming under control. The Palisades and Eaton fires are continuing but they are appearing to slow down as there is not much fuel left in either case. But the weather forecast is not good and there is a possibility that the fires will be whipped up again due to high Santa Ana winds. And there certainly is a chance of further fires before the winds calm down...