Basketball superstar Chris Bosh has refuted allegations suggesting that fireworks may have originated from his property near where the Lachman Fire ignited, ultimately leading to the catastrophic Palisades Fire in Los Angeles in January 2025. The claims emerged during the ongoing federal retrial of Jonathan Rinderknecht, a man accused of setting the fire that became one of California’s most devastating wildfires.
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Rinderknecht, aged 30, is currently retried on federal charges stemming from the January 1, 2025 blaze, which claimed numerous lives and devastated vast areas. His initial trial ended in a mistrial in June 2026 when the jury failed to reach a unanimous decision on his guilt.
The retrial commenced with jury selection on November 2, 2026, and has been a focal point of discussions regarding the fire’s origin. Rinderknecht’s defence attorney, Steve Haney, recently sought to admit testimony from retired fire investigator Michael T. Cole, who posited that fireworks were discharged from a residence adjacent to where the Lachman Fire was initially reported.
The California Post has conveyed that the residence in question is an $11 million mansion owned by Bosh. However, it is important to highlight that the NBA champion has not been implicated in any wrongdoing nor faced any legal charges in connection to the case.
On November 13, Bosh and his wife, Adrienne, clarified their non-involvement through an Instagram statement. They asserted that their family was not present at their Pacific Palisades property on New Year’s Eve 2024 or New Year’s Day 2025, as they were residing in Austin, Texas at the time. Furthermore, the Bosh family asserted that their property was unoccupied and was neither rented nor being used by any guests during that period.
In their statement, the couple expressed their awareness of the tragic ramifications of the fire, confirming their cooperation with authorities by providing security footage and any pertinent information they possessed. They concluded by emphasising their support for the investigative efforts aimed at establishing the facts surrounding the event.
Despite Rinderknecht’s defence team’s assertion, prosecutors have indicated they wish to exclude Cole as a witness, citing his lack of expertise in identifying firework-related evidence. They argued that he only examined remnants recovered from drone-captured photographs taken a month after the fire’s outbreak.
Following a comprehensive nine-month investigation, it was determined that the Lachman Fire commenced on January 1, 2025. Initially subdued, the fire continued to smoulder beneath the surface for several days, remaining undetected until it reignited due to strong winds on January 7, leading to the full-scale Palisades Fire.
According to prosecutors, Rinderknecht is believed to have used a lighter to ignite combustible materials, inciting the original brush fire. He was apprehended in October 2025, six months after the tragic inferno commenced.
The Palisades Fire ultimately wreaked havoc over 20,000 acres, resulting in 12 fatalities and incurring an estimated billions of dollars in damages. Rinderknecht has entered a plea of not guilty to updated charges revolving around one count of property destruction through fire, as well as one count of arson impacting interstate commerce.
The trial has garnered significant media attention, shining a spotlight on both the severity of the wildfire crisis in California and the allegations that have emerged amidst the ongoing questioning of responsibility. As the proceedings continue, the implications for those accused and affected by the fires remain severe, reflecting the broader consequences of wildfire occurrences in the region.
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