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Los Angeles law enforcement agencies took to Twitter and Facebook in a bid to tackle fires started by an arsonist who was operating in Hollywood last week.

More than 50 fires have erupted in LA neighbourhoods since the early hours of Friday. The main targets were vehicles parked on streets and in car parks.

Everyone from police to fire departments got involved in the effort by sharing and tracking reports of new fire breakouts via social media.

Initially, all of the different departments were posting messages on their own Twitter and Facebook accounts, before combining efforts to create a new @ArsonwatchLA Twitter handle giving the public access to new information.

The account was the result of a joint effort between the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles Fire Department, the Los Angeles County Fire Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The Los Angeles Fire Department also tweeted every major incident from its official @LAFD Twitter account, which has more than 16,600 followers.

Mike Parker, Sheriff's captain, told the Los Angeles Times: 'A lot of the best information was coming from and being distributed by social media. We wanted to speak to the public where the public is, and that is social media.'

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