LOS ANGELES (AP) — A lawsuit filed Monday against Southern California Edison claims the utility’s equipment sparked the deadly Eaton Fire burning just outside Los Angeles and Edison has acknowledged fire agencies are investigating whether its equipment may have started a smaller LA-area fire that broke out the same day.
Edison said in a filing with the California Public Utilities Commission that “a downed conductor was discovered at a tower” near the start of the Hurst Fire that broke out in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Sylmar. But the utility added it “does not know whether the damage observed occurred before or after the start of the fire.” That fire burned more than a square mile and is now mostly contained.
Authorities haven’t determined an official cause for either fire. Wildfires that began last Tuesday amid hurricane-force winds have killed at least 24 people across the Los Angeles area.
Firefighters are still battling to contain the Eaton Fire that broke out near Pasadena, destroying at least 7,000 homes and other structures and laying waste to entire neighborhoods. Attorneys representing a homeowner who lost their home said Monday that it is their belief that Edison’s equipment caused the fire. Video taken during the fire’s early minutes show a large blaze directly beneath electrical towers.
“There is clear evidence from video footage, photographs, and witness accounts that the fire was caused by electrical equipment operated by Defendants Edison International and Southern California Edison,” the complaint states.
Edison did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit.
Last week, Edison filed a report with the California Public Utilities Commission related to the Eaton Fire that said it has not received any suggestions that its equipment was involved in the ignition of that fire. Edison said it filed the report with state utilities regulators out of “an abundance of caution” after receiving evidence preservation notices from insurance company lawyers.
“Preliminary analysis by SCE of electrical circuit information for the energized transmission lines going through the area for 12 hours prior to the reported start time of the fire shows no interruptions or electrical or operational anomalies until more than one hour after the reported start time of the fire,” the utility reported.