As if LA officials don’t have enough on their plates, they have another problem: Arsonists

As devastating wildfires have destroyed huge swaths of Los Angeles County, incinerating homes and leaving at least 27 people dead, fire and law enforcement authorities have also had to contend with a number of arson fires.

As devastating wildfires have destroyed huge swaths of Los Angeles County, incinerating homes and leaving at least 27 people dead, fire and law enforcement authorities have also had to contend with multiple cases of arson. Authorities have arrested at least eight people accused of setting new, small fires in the days since the larger fires erupted, including suspects setting trees, bushes, leaves and trash ablaze, officials said. On the evening of January 14, a woman was arrested after allegedly setting multiple piles of rubbish and trash on fire, Jim McDonnell, chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, said at a news conference last week. When the woman was arrested, she admitted to setting fires and said “she enjoyed causing chaos and destruction,” according to McDonnell. Another suspect, arrested earlier on the same day after allegedly setting a fire in a tree, admitted to starting the fire “because he liked the smell of burning leaves,” said the police chief. “There are people out there who – this is what they do,” said McDonnell. “If you know of those people, please give us a call before something really bad happens.”