A woman was arrested on suspicion of arson amid the Los Angeles wildfires — but officials do not believe the incident to be connected to the devastating blazes.
The woman, 60-year-old Gloria Lynn Mandich, was taken into custody and charged with felony arson related to a Jan. 8 brush fire in Los Angeles County, California State Parks announced in a press release on Friday, Jan. 10.
The blaze in question was located near Leo Carrillo State Park in an area that has been under a red flag warning as multiple wildfires continue to rage in the region, fanned by severe winds and fed by dry vegetation.
Though the major fires are only partially contained, the fire that Mandich is accused of starting was “quickly extinguished” by the Los Angeles County Fire Department, according to California State Parks.
Mandich, meanwhile, was booked into Ventura County Jail, where her bail is currently set at $20,000, according to court records viewed by PEOPLE.
The Kentucky native now faces a felony charge for allegedly causing a fire of a structure or forest land, as well as a separate arson charge specific to fires started during an emergency, records show. She pleaded not guilty.
Mandich made her first appearance in court on Jan. 10, and has upcoming court appearances set for Jan. 22 and Jan. 24, the latter of which will be a preliminary examination.
The prosecutor in the arson case did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment, nor did Mandich’s attorney.
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Elsewhere on Jan. 10, authorities were dispatched to Pioneer Park in response to a reported brush fire. Once they arrived, a bystander alerted them that an individual was responsible for the flames and was still on the scene, the Azusa Police Department said in a news release.
The suspect, later identified as Jose Carranza-Escobar, was detained and admitted to starting the fire, police said. He was arrested for arson and subsequently booked, and is now currently being held in custody.
The City of Azusa Public Works, in a joint effort with the Azusa Light and Water, is currently assessing the damage caused by the fire, per police. The investigation remains ongoing.
More than 80,000 people have been displaced in the L.A. wildfires since they started in Pacific Palisades on Jan. 7. The Eaton Fire came soon after at around 6:30 p.m. the same day. By the morning of Wednesday, Jan. 8, the fires had reached 10,000 acres across Pasadena and Altadena.
Thousands of structures, including businesses and residents’ homes, have been affected in the massive, fast-growing blazes — which, still uncontained, have already proved to be the most destructive natural disasters in the history of Los Angeles.
As of Jan. 10, at least 11 people are dead as a result of the fires, according to county officials.
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