Police looking for suspects caught on video after igniting California wildfire

A manhunt is underway as police investigate a Riverside, California, wildfire that destroyed at least six homes. The suspects were caught on video fleeing the scene after igniting the blaze with illegal fireworks on Sunday.

The Hawarden Fire, named after the road the incident was reported near, injured two people, damaged over a dozen homes, spread over 500 acres, and resulted in the evacuation of 1,500 civilians.

"Hey, do you have a fire extinguisher?" One suspect was caught on video asking after a local homeowner shouted that they had called the police. The homeowner replied, “Oh dude, you're way past that.”

Riverside Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson said on Monday that a vehicle of interest is being reviewed by investigators and that the brush fire caused over $10 million in damage to homes in the neighborhood.

"We will ensure they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," she said at a press conference. "Let me repeat that: We will prosecute those responsible for this incident."

Riverside police told the Washington Examiner that law enforcement is assisting the Riverside Fire Department's Arson Investigations Unit "on the criminal side" of the investigation. Investigators are following up on leads, police said, "but no arrests so far" as of Tuesday afternoon.

Local homeowner Maihanh Tran detailed her loss in an interview with ABC7, stating "Everything we own is gone. Everything.” She added, “We are still wearing the same clothes from yesterday."

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She thanked firefighters for "risk[ing] their lives" to save her precious belongings. Tran said, "My heart goes out because, you know, they risked their lives. … That was my belongings; that wasn't even for a human life. They did that because they knew how much that meant to us."

According to Cal Fire, the Hawarden Fire was 40% contained as of Tuesday morning.