Two teenage boys from Lindenwood, Ill., were allowed to fly home with orders to return in 60 days to face possible criminal charges stemming from a brush fire they are accused of setting Friday that blackened 160 acres in the Hollywood Hills.
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The fire came within a ridge of the Hollywood sign and within 50 feet of an apartment building parking lot before the flames were beaten down by fire crews and water-dropping helicopters. No one was injured and no structures were damaged.
The boys, ages 16 and 17, were interviewed by police and Fire Department investigators after they turned themselves in, accompanied by the parents of the 16-year-old.
The boys, whose names were not released because they are minors, told arson investigators that they were playing with a lighter and setting twigs on fire when the blaze spread up the hillside, said sources familiar with the investigation.
They were arrested on suspicion of “reckless burn of forest land,” which could result in a penalty of 16 months to 3 years in juvenile detention, officials said.
“They were arrested but currently are released to their parents,” said D’Lisa Davies, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The boys were described as classmates from the small town in Illinois, about 88 miles west of downtown Chicago, and were staying in Los Angeles while one of their fathers underwent a long-term training assignment in Southern California for his job. The boys were described by one official familiar with the case as “straight-A students” who were being home-schooled by the 16-year-old’s mother.
Arson investigators had not yet filed a case with the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, said spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons.