Four people are in custody in Los Angeles County, accused of deliberately setting the fire that tore through the heart of Old Town Newhall in Santa Clarita in August and caused an estimated $13 million in damage. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said detectives served search warrants at four locations across the county on Thursday, October 29, and arrested three men and one woman on suspicion of arson and conspiracy in connection with the August 24 blaze.
Source: Los Angeles Times via Firehouse
Who was arrested
The sheriff's department identified those arrested as John Wright, 47, and Jesus Figueroa, 54, both of Canyon Country, and Cristian Leija, 43, and Antoinette Ruiz, 35, both of El Monte. According to the Santa Clarita Signal, Wright is the owner of Gary's Collision Center, one of the businesses that burned in the fire. Wright was arrested by a sheriff's surveillance and apprehension team and was being held at the Inmate Reception Center in downtown Los Angeles on $500,000 bail, according to sheriff's jail records. Figueroa was booked in San Dimas by Major Crimes Bureau investigators. Figueroa, Leija and Ruiz were all held without bail at the Santa Clarita Valley Station.
Source: MyNewsLA / City News Service
The allegations against all four are exactly that — allegations. They were booked on suspicion of arson and conspiracy, and no motive has been announced. The sheriff's department has released no details about what led investigators to the four suspects, and the investigation is continuing.
Source: Los Angeles Times via Firehouse
The night the historic block burned
The fire was reported at about 2:55 a.m. on August 24 in the 24000 block of Main Street in Newhall, the historic district of Santa Clarita, a city in northern Los Angeles County. Sheriff's Arson and Explosives Detail detectives responded around 3 a.m. to what the department called a significant structure fire involving seven structures. The Los Angeles County Fire Department said the fire broke out inside an auto-body shop and spread to the adjoining building. A second alarm was called at 3:07 a.m. and a third alarm at 4:42 a.m.; in all, 112 firefighters with 58 pieces of apparatus and a hazardous-materials team responded, spokesman Keith Navarre said at the time.
Source: MyNewsLA / City News Service
Crews were forced into defensive positions, pouring water from aerial ladder trucks in a 'surround and drown' operation to protect nearby structures. 'It pretty much consumed the whole commercial building,' Navarre said. The flames were largely doused by 8 a.m., and excavators were brought in to pull down smouldering sections. One person was taken to hospital about six hours after the fire was reported, but was not believed to have been hurt in the fire.
Source: MyNewsLA / City News Service
The destroyed complex was a structure more than 100 years old that housed longtime community staples: the MAIN Theatre, the Newhall Refinery restaurant and the auto-body shop, along with a boutique. Residents described the block as the heart of the Santa Clarita community.
The investigation and the background
Sheriff's arson investigators worked with county fire officials to determine the origin and cause of the blaze, which started in the auto-body shop, and the sheriff's department said the case has remained a top priority for both the department and the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office since August. The district attorney's office is now reviewing the investigation as detectives pursue further leads.
Source: Los Angeles Times via Firehouse
Local reporting by the Santa Clarita Signal adds a contested background that readers should treat as unproven context, not established fact. The Signal reported that Wright had lost a court case involving unpaid rent to the property owner just days before the fire, that more than $50,000 in back rent was said to be unpaid, and that he had been ordered to pay or vacate — an amount Wright said he was disputing. In an interview soon after the fire, Wright denied any involvement. The Signal also reported that a fire on July 30, 2025 at another Wright-run shop, Halsey's Auto Shop at 27565 Sierra Highway, is also being examined by arson investigators, and that Wright received insurance compensation in that case. Investigators have not publicly linked the two fires to the charges announced this week.
Source: Santa Clarita Signal via MyNewsLA
In late September, another fire erupted in the same neighbourhood, in the 24000 block of Railroad Avenue near Market Street, KTLA reported. It was not immediately clear whether the two fires were connected, and officials have announced no link.
Source: KTLA via Firehouse
What happens next
According to the Los Angeles Times, the three men are scheduled to appear at the San Fernando Courthouse on Monday, November 2; jail records listed all four for a San Fernando court date on Monday, subject to change, and Ruiz's court date was not confirmed. Prosecutors will decide what formal charges, if any, are filed. Anyone with information about the Main Street fire can contact the sheriff's Arson and Explosives Detail at 323-881-7500, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 800-222-8477.
Source: Los Angeles Times via Firehouse