2 Held on Suspicion of Setting 5-Acre Brush Fire in Palmdale

A man and woman who allegedly set a brush fire with a Molotov cocktail in western Palmdale were being held Wednesday on suspicion of arson, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies said.

Deputies arrested Jeffrey Gilliam, 24, and Stephanie Quesada, 18, both of Lancaster, about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday after a resident reported seeing someone throw a Molotov cocktail into the brush at 70th Street West near the California Aqueduct, authorities said.

Although the five-acre fire was not far from an area hit by a series of suspicious brush fires during the past month, Sgt. Dale Underwood of the sheriff’s arson unit said the couple are not suspects in those fires.

County firefighters extinguished the blaze in 20 minutes, deputies said. A deputy stopped Gilliam and Quesada near a Lancaster fast-food restaurant because their car matched the description given by the witness. Deputies said they discovered a gasoline can, a rag and masking tape that appeared to have been used to make the incendiary device.

Gilliam and Quesada were being held in lieu of $60,000 bail each at the Antelope Valley Sheriff’s Station.