On Monday (13th), Southern California Edison (SCE), a utility company, was sued in Los Angeles Superior Court. Multiple lawsuits accuse the company of failing to shut off power lines, leading to the Eaton Canyon fire, one of the current two major wildfires in Los Angeles.
The Eaton Canyon fire has already destroyed over 14,000 acres of land in the Altadena area of northeastern Los Angeles and has resulted in at least 16 deaths since it broke out a week ago.
Authorities have not yet determined the official cause of the fire. However, videos taken at the start of the fire show a large blaze underneath a power tower.
One of the lawsuits was filed by Jeremy Gursey, whose Altadena home was destroyed in the fire.
The lawsuit alleges that the Eaton Canyon fire was caused by SCE’s failure to shut off overhead power lines crossing the canyon, despite a red flag warning (indicating extreme danger) issued by the National Weather Service the previous day.
Another lawsuit, filed on behalf of several homeowners and tenants, accuses SCE of not complying with electrical and fire safety standards.
Evangeline Iglesias, another Altadena resident who lost her home, had her lawyer file a lawsuit on Monday as well.
SCE’s spokesman, Jeff Monford, told Epoch Times that SCE is aware of the lawsuits related to the Eaton fire but has not yet received the complaints.
He stated that once they receive the complaints, the company will review them. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
The Eaton fire broke out around 6:15 PM on January 7th. On January 9th, SCE submitted a report related to the fire to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) after receiving evidence preservation requests from insurance company lawyers.
In the report, SCE stated that it submitted the report out of caution.
The company also mentioned that it conducted a preliminary analysis of the electrical information from the power lines in the area in the 12 hours before the fire report started. The analysis showed no power outages or abnormal equipment or operational issues within over an hour of the fire report.
A recent report by the California Legislative Analyst’s Office pointed out that costs related to wildfires are a major factor driving up residential electricity prices in California, making the state’s electricity prices the second highest in the nation, after Hawaii.
According to California laws and CPUC policies, utility companies are held responsible for wildfires caused by their equipment, regardless of negligence. Additionally, California laws and policies allow utility companies to pass these costs onto consumers, leading to price hikes.
The report also stated that California utilities have invested unprecedented amounts of money in fire prevention, leading to frequent electricity rate increases.
Some of the largest and most destructive wildfires in California’s history have been sparked by utility company power lines or equipment, including the Camp Fire in Northern California in 2018, the Kincade Fire in 2019, the Dixie Fire in 2021, the Thomas Fire in Southern California in 2017, the Woolsey Fire in 2018, and the Witch Fire in 2007. ◇