A Florida man has been arrested on charges that he intentionally ignited the devastating Pacific Palisades Fire in Los Angeles that killed 12 people and wiped out neighbourhoods at the start of the year, the US Justice Department said on Wednesday.

Jonathan Rinderknecht is facing federal criminal charges related to the fire after an investigation by the Los Angeles field division of the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); the Los Angeles Fire Department; and the Los Angeles Police Department.

He was arrested in Florida on Tuesday and will be transferred back to the Central District of California to stand trial, Bill Essayli, the acting US attorney in Los Angeles, told reporters.

Rinderknecht started the fire after finishing his shift as an Uber driver, Essayli alleged. Videos of the fire taken on his cellphone and emergency calls were among the evidence connecting Rinderknecht to the fire, Essayli said.

The fire in the Palisades started in early January and scorched more than 23,000 acres (9,308 hectares). It was the most destructive fire in the city’s history, destroying some 6,000 structures around Los Angeles, causing about US$150 billion in damages.

Arson investigators determined that the fire started near a popular hiking trail on the hillside of a state park overlooking the Pacific Palisades overnight in early January. It ravaged large parts of the Pacific Palisades, Topanga and Malibu before firefighters were finally able to contain the blaze about 24 days later.