Many mainstream media outlets have argued that climate change is behind the devastating wildfires which are currently ravaging Los Angeles.

Yet a bombshell new allegation suggests that the disaster might have had a more direct cause: arson. 

Video allegedly shows to men using gasoline to start fire

The Daily Mail spoke with an senior firefighter who claimed to have been told by a resident of a video showing two men using gasoline to start a fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood.

"We had a resident come to us and said he got a video of two men dumping gas and lighting it off," the unnamed LAFD official stated.

Firefighter reveals two men were caught on camera lighting fire just before Palisades blaze erupted in LA. -@MailOnline pic.twitter.com/NyfUoNnhHk

— Bella (@stockbella) January 11, 2025

"By then we were too busy. We told him to take the video to the police," the firefighter was quoted as telling the newspaper.

Some residents suspect illegal fireworks as a cause

However, the newspaper stated that it is unclear what happened to the video or if the footage was ever shown to law enforcement.

The Daily Mail noted that the L.A. County Sheriff's Department refused to address "repeated requests" for answers about evidence of arson.

Meanwhile, the paper pointed out how some residents on North Piedra Morada Drive have argued that the disaster may have been caused by illegal fireworks being used on New Year's Eve.

Although firefighters appeared to have extinguished a fire in the early morning hours of New Year's Day, some locals speculated that it continued to burn underground since smoke was seen in the "exact" same spot a week later.

Among those residents is University of Southern California neuroscience professor Andrew Hires, who told the Daily Mail that he and his wife heard fireworks on New Year's Eve.

Resident heard fireworks before initial fire

"I woke back up at 2 a.m. and there was a pretty well-involved fire right at the top of the Temescal Ridge trailhead, which is a place where a lot of people hike, and a little spot where people might hang out. The choppers and fire department put it out," Hires explained.

The professor then recounted how he began smelling smoke earlier this week and received a text with a photo showing flames where the original fire had been.

"How did that start? I don't know. But the precise overlap of the starting locations would suggest that it's related to the January 1 fire," he added.