A man has been arrested in connection with a deadly wildfire that destroyed much of the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood in Los Angeles, California.

Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, was detained for allegedly starting a fire on New Year’s Day that burned down much of the wealthy area a week later, acting US attorney Bill Essayli said.

The blaze, which erupted on 7 January, killed 12 people and destroyed more than 6,000 homes and buildings in the Pacific Palisades, a wealthy coastal neighbourhood. It burned down mansions with views of the ocean and central Los Angeles.

Rinderknecht allegedly started the fire after finishing his shift as an Uber driver.

He fled the scene of the original fire, but returned to the same trail where he had been earlier to watch it burn, according to Mr Essayli.

“He left as soon as he saw the fire trucks were headed to the location. He turned around and went back up there. And he took some video and, and watched them fight the fire,” Mr Essayli said

Rinderknecht made several 911 calls to report the fire, according to a criminal complaint.

During an interview with investigators on 24 January, Rinderknecht spoke of where the fire began – information that was not yet public and he would not have known if he hadn’t witnessed it, the complaint said.

The suspect was visibly nervous during the interview, according to the complaint.

His efforts to call 911 and a question to ChatGPT about a cigarette lighting a fire indicated he “wanted to preserve evidence of himself trying to assist in the suppression of the fire and he wanted to create evidence regarding a more innocent explanation for the cause of the fire,” the complaint added.

Investigators determined the fire was intentionally lit, likely by a lighter used on vegetation or paper, according to the criminal complaint. Authorities found a “barbecue-style” lighter inside the glove compartment of his car.

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Rinderknecht also lied about his location when the fire began, claiming he was near the bottom of the hiking trail, Mr Essayli said.

The fire was put out initially, but it continued to smoulder underground before reigniting during high winds a week later, Mr Essayli added.

Rinderknecht was arrested in Florida on Tuesday and will appear in court in the state on Wednesday.

He faces between five and 20 years in prison if convicted, according to the US Attorney’s Office.

“While we cannot undo the damage and destruction that was done, we hope his arrest and the charges against him bring some measure of justice to the victims of this horrific tragedy,” Mr Essayli said.

The mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, said: “More than nine months ago, our city faced one of the most devastating periods our region had ever seen. Lives were tragically lost. Thousands of homes were destroyed.

“Our heroic firefighters fought the blaze valiantly with no rest. Each day that families are displaced is a day too long and as we are working tirelessly to bring Angelenos home, we are also working towards closure and towards justice – and today is a step forward in that process.”

Investigators are still to determine the cause of the Eaton Fire, which broke out the same day in the community of Altadena and killed 18 people.

Hundreds of National Guard soldiers from Texas have arrived at an army facility outside Chicago, as part of Donald Trump’s threat to deploy troops targeting Democratic-led cities.

On Sunday, the US president ordered the deployment of 300 National Guard soldiers to America’s third-largest city, prompting a strong response from local protestors and politicians.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has accused Mr Trump of using troops as “political props” and “pawns”.

On Monday, Illinois’ attorneys failed in a legal attempt to block their deployment, which they labelled “illegal, dangerous and unconstitutional”.

‘Ready to go’

“The elite Texas National Guard are on the ground and ready to go,” said Greg Abbott, Republican governor of Texas, in a post on X.

“They are putting America first by ensuring that the federal government can safely enforce federal law.”

Armed Border Patrol agents have been making arrests in an immigration crackdown that began last month, targeting immigrant-heavy and largely Latino areas, which has prompted a series of protests.

In September, in a post on Truth Social, Mr Trump shared an AI-generated image of himself as a military officer in the movie Apocalypse Now, with the title changed to “Chipocalypse Now” over flames and the city skyline.

The post – a screenshot from X – said: “‘I love the smell of deportations in the morning…’.

‘Aggressive overreach’

Officials in Will County, southwest of Chicago, said they were not warned by the federal government about the deployment at the US Army Reserve Centre in Elwood.

“The arrival of the National Guard by the Trump Administration is an aggressive overreach. Our federal government moving armed troops into our community should be alarming to everyone,” said Will County’s executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant.

National Guard troops are state-based militia who normally answer to local governors and are often deployed in response to natural disasters.

While the military’s role in enforcing domestic laws is limited, Mr Trump has said he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to dispatch active duty military in states that are unable to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.

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The National Guard’s exact mission in Illinois was not immediately clear, although the Trump administration has an aggressive immigration enforcement operation, and protesters have frequently rallied at an immigration building outside Chicago in Broadview.

The president repeatedly has described Chicago in hostile terms, calling it a “hell hole” of crime, although police statistics show significant drops in most crimes, including murders.

Following Mr Trump’s earlier deployment of troops to Los Angeles and Washington DC, he has also ordered soldiers to Portland, Oregon, which he has described as a “war zone”.

None have been deployed there yet, as a legal battle between his administration and Oregon is waged in the courts.

Local Democratic governor Tina Kotek has insisted there is “no insurrection” in the state.

The US president has defied staunch opposition from Democratic mayors and governors, who say his claims of lawlessness and violence do not reflect reality.

However, troops are also being sent to Memphis, where they would be welcomed by Tennessee’s Republican Governor Bill Lee. He said they will “play a critical support role” for local law enforcement.

Three people have been critically injured after a helicopter crash in Sacramento, according to the Californian city’s fire department.

Images from the scene show a medical helicopter lying upside down on the eastbound lanes of Highway 50.

The helicopter had taken a patient to a hospital and was returning to the place it had been dispatched from when it experienced an “in-air emergency” just after 7pm local time (3am UK time), according to Captain Justin Sylvia, from the Sacramento Fire Department.

He said there were a pilot, nurse, and paramedic on board at the time of the crash, who were taken to local hospitals in “critical condition”. Mr Sylvia said the crew consisted of two women and one man.

One of the women was trapped underneath the helicopter, with civilians on the highway helping the fire department to lift part of the helicopter out of the way to free the victim and get her into an ambulance.

“It took every ounce of all approximately 15 people to move that aircraft up just enough to get her out,” Mr Sylvia said at a news conference.

He added: “There’s a pretty large debris field around that at this point. The lucky portion for us, I’d say, is the fact that the helicopter did not catch on fire.”

No vehicles were involved in the crash and no one on the highway was injured, Mr Sylvia said, adding that this was “mind-blowing” given that the helicopter crashed in the centre of the road.

“People reported that they basically saw the helicopter kind of going down quickly. So all the traffic slowed down,” he explained.

Sacramento City councilwoman Lisa Kaplan said she was on a ride-along with local law enforcement responding to the crash.

She described plumes of white smoke coming out of the crashed helicopter.

“It’s really sombering and sobering. I am up flying with sheriff pilots that do this day in and day out. And it really makes you grateful for every day and grateful for our officers and our medical pilots,” she said.

The road is expected to be closed for an extended time, according to Officer Michael Harper, a spokesperson for the California Highway Patrol.

“The cause of the crash is still under investigation,” his colleague, Officer Mike Carillo, added.

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The helicopter appears to belong to REACH Air Medical Services, which confirmed to ABC7 that three of its crew were hurt in the crash.

The Federal Aviation Administration did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.