A late-night brush fire at a popular local hiking trail ended in a pair of handcuffs after police caught a woman red-handed at the scene. On Wednesday, June 10, 2026, at around 11:15 p.m., Simi Valley Police officers raced out to the Mount McCoy Trailhead. The Ventura County Fire Department had already rushed to the scene to battle a fast-moving vegetation fire, and they needed police backup to deal with a suspicious person lurking in the smoke.
When cops arrived, they immediately confronted thirty-four-year-old Simi Valley resident Ingrid VasquezPalacios. Investigators quickly determined that she was the one who sparked the blaze right at the base of the trail. Firefighters managed to contain the fire before it could race up the hillside and threaten nearby homes, while officers hauled VasquezPalacios off to jail.
THE QUICK BREAKDOWN
The Scene: Cops and firefighters swarmed the Mount McCoy Trailhead late Wednesday night after a brush fire erupted.
The Suspect: Ingrid VasquezPalacios, 34, of Simi Valley, was identified at the scene as the person who started the fire.
The Arrest: VasquezPalacios was slapped with handcuffs and booked into the Ventura County Main Jail.
The Charge: She is facing a felony violation of 452(c) PC — Unlawfully Causing a Fire.
Let's be completely real about this: starting a fire at a major trailhead in the middle of June is absolute madness. Ventura County is a tinderbox right now, and our local hillsides are practically waiting for a single spark to explode into a disaster. Anyone who deliberately or carelessly ignites brush near residential neighborhoods is putting lives, homes, and our brave firefighters in extreme danger.
The Mount McCoy trail is a beloved community landmark, and this could have easily turned into a massive hill fire if the fire department hadn't arrived so fast. Getting this suspect off the trail and locked up in the main jail is exactly what needed to happen. We have zero tolerance for anyone trying to burn down our hillsides.