LOS ANGELES — Police have arrested a looter who disguised himself as a firefighter to steal from a home in the fire-ravaged Malibu area. The man was caught by deputies in the Palisades Fire evacuation zone, which spans into Malibu.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said he initially mistook the man for a firefighter when he was sitting down but later realized he was in handcuffs for burglarizing a home. The suspect, along with two others, was reportedly driving around the devastated neighborhood targeting victims.

Officials have imposed a strict nighttime curfew across the disaster zones, with anyone found in the evacuation areas between 6 pm and 6 am facing arrest. In addition to burglary charges, the looter faces potential jail time for impersonating a firefighter—a crime punishable by up to a year in prison.

The fires, which have claimed at least 16 lives and destroyed over 12,000 structures, have forced more than 100,000 people to evacuate from the affected regions