Palisades Drive was closed for a time during the July 18 fire.
Circling the News ran a brief story about a one-eighth acre brush fire at 4:39 p.m., in the 1000 block of Palisades Drive, on July 18. No structures were threatened. Crews quickly surrounded the fire with hose lines and extinguished the flames by ground attack. There were no reported injuries. Palisades Drive was temporarily closed while firefighters were on site.
A woman, describes as a transient, became a person of interest and was put under arrest as possibly the arsonist. A full investigation is underway.
The next day, July 19, CTN was contacted by Reza Akef, a developer, who served for years on the Pacific Palisades Community Council. Akef wrote “That woman looks exactly like the woman we believe burned down our empty house in Palms!”
He was asked if he had contacted the police, because according to the Pacific Palisades Task force on Homelessness, this woman is new to the area.
Akef said he would reach out to Palisades Senior Lead Officer Brian Espin.
If this woman has set prior fires, this would not be the time (upcoming fire season) to release her back into the community via a diversion program.
This woman was taken into custody as a possible arsonist on July 18.