People living near the devastating Pacific Palisades wildfire are on high alert after a resident confronted a suspicious hiker on a remote Topanga road… and now police are on the scene.
TMZ obtained video of a tense interaction between a Topanga local and a lone hiker who gave vague answers to basic questions about where he was going and what he was doing as he walked around a fire zone with a backpack.
There are concerns that arson is the cause of the Palisades fire… and at one point during the conversation, the hiker responds to a question about the contents of his backpack with the unprompted response: “Absolutely not lighter fluid.”
Law enforcement tells TMZ that the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has seen the video and is investigating the matter.
This all happened on a remote fire road in Topanga on Sunday…and the hiker says he's lost, he's not from the area, and he's trying to get to San Diego – which is one heck of a walk.
People who live in Topanga say the man was in his 20s, weighed about 200 pounds and was 6 feet tall…and we're told a man matching the description was also seen in Agoura became.
TMZ.com
The resident recording the video is pretty upset when the video ends, and it looks like he's ready to confront the hiker… but we don't know what happened when the recording stopped became.