Hikers confront alleged arsonist trying to set fire along Runyon Trail: 'PTSD from January'

Runyon Canyon hikers stop suspected arsonist

Hikers in Runyon Canyon detained a suspected arsonist they caught in the act of setting a tree on fire.

LOS ANGELES - A group of hikers in the Hollywood Hills confronted and detained a man Sunday accused of setting fire to trees and bushes along the popular Runyon Trail.

"He admitted he did it," said Davanh Dimarco. "There was no one else coming out of the trees. Apparently, he had a blowtorch."

Dimarco recorded video of the incident while her friend, Scotty Mitchell, stopped and confronted the alleged arsonist.

"Once I confronted him, he kind of stopped and paused, like, oh, you got me," said Mitchell.

In the video, the man appears to admit to starting the blaze while flames can be seen erupting from a nearby tree.

"He was talking nonsense," said Dimarco. "Mental illness, I guess."

"He said, ‘I’m a fire marshal and this is a controlled burn,’" Mitchell recalled. "I said, ‘Show me your badge.’ Clearly, he didn’t have a badge. He probably doesn’t even have a toy badge."

Fortunately, it wasn’t too windy during Sunday’s incident. The brush fire wasn’t too far from homes.

"For how engulfed these flames were, it was not going to take long to catch all of this greenery and work its way up [towards the homes]," said Mitchell.

Hikers confront suspected arsonist at Runyon Canyon

A group of hikers stopped a suspected arsonist who started a brush fire in the Hollywood Hills near the Runyon Canyon trail.

In January, the Sunset Wildfire also occurred along the Runyon Trail, scorching more than 60 acres while causing mass evacuations.

"[This is] PTSD from January," said Dimarco.

Firefighters on Sunday arrived at the fire within 15 minutes and kept the blaze less than a half-acre in size.

The alleged arsonist was held by Mitchell and another hiker for more than an hour before law enforcement arrived and eventually arrested him.

According to Mitchell, he used humor while apprehending the man.

"I just wanted to keep it light and tell him I wasn’t playing with him, so I told him, ‘I’m Batman from Gotham City, I don’t want to hear you talk anymore,’" Mitchell recalls. "There’s a slight chance he did believe me, given the state of mind he was in at the time, so, I’m Batman."

So far, the name of the man arrested and his criminal history have not been released.