A “person of interest” in the Kenneth fire that broke out last week just north of the city of Los Angeles who was arrested after police say he was caught with a blowtorch has been detained by immigration authorities for entering the country illegally from Mexico.
The Los Angeles Times reports 33-year-old Juan Manuel Sierra, a.k.a Juan Manuel Sierra-Leyva, was arrested Thursday, January 9, by the LAPD for violating felony probation for “attempting to start a fire” in a West Hills neighborhood near the location of the Kenneth fire. OIfficials say he is a suspect in connection with the nearly 1,000-acre fire according to The Times.
.U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed an immigration detainer on Sierra on Saturday. He remains in a Los Angeles County jail. The Sheriff’s Department said it will hand over a person in custody if ICE has an arrest warrant.
(Photo Getty Images)
A CalFire helicopter flies near plumes of smoke from the Kenneth Fire in West Hills, California, on January 9, 2025.