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Fires Set in Santa Monica During Emergency
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By Jorge Casuso January 22, 2025 -- As flames swept across Pacific Palisades driven by dangerous winds, firefighters put out at least four fires in Santa Monica, according to public safety officials. Three of the fires were set by homeless individuals, two of the fires are under investigation by police and one of the suspects was arrested for arson, police officials said. The first fire, which was not considered arson, was set by two homeless individuals in a garbage can outside the Civic Auditorium on January 8, the day after the Palisades Fire ignited, police said. "It did not appear to be deliberately set to destroy property but was instead an unlawful burning in a public space (more like a warming fire gone wrong)," SMPD spokesperson Erika Aklufi wrote in an email to The Lookout. When police arrived at the scene "the fire department was already extinguishing the fire," which was located at the southeast corner of the Civic Auditorium in an area designated for garbage cans, Aklufi said. "There was minor damage to a city trash bin and some burn marks on a wall of the enclosure. Two suspects, a male and female, were seen in the area by witnesses." The following day, a small vegetation fire was reported at around 4 p.m. near 19th Street and the 10 Freeway in the Pico Neighborhood. "The Santa Monica Fire Department arrived quickly on scene and extinguished the fire with no spread to adjacent buildings or structures," said Cathy Taylor, the Fire Department's Fire Prevention Coordinator. A third fire was set by a homeless individual on January 11 in a trash bin on the alley side of a multi-unit apartment building on the 1400 Block of 14th Street near Santa Monica Boulevard, according to police. "The trash bin was destroyed and the apartment building suffered minor damage," Aklufi said. The fire, which was extinguished by SMFD, is under investigation as a possible arson. The fourth fire took place on January 15 at around 1:30 a.m. on the 300 block of Palisades Park in an evacuation zone north of Montana Avenue. The homeless suspect "removed items from a city trash can and lit them on fire," Aklufi said. An SMPD sergeant in the area arrested the suspect for arson, and the Fire Department responded and extinguished the flames, she said. The suspect, identified as Michelle Mercedes Barnes, a 41-year-old Black female, had a non-extraditable warrant out of Texas for arson. |
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