Two lawsuits filed Monday against Southern California Edison allege the utility failed to turn off its electrical equipment and clear brush where a fire broke out near Pasadena, one in a cascade of forest fires currently burning in the Los Angeles area, driven by strong winds.
The separate complaints were filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on behalf of people whose homes and personal property were destroyed in the Eaton Fire. They come as investigators continue to determine the cause and origin of the multiple fires that started nearly a week ago.
The Eaton Fire, which burned more than 14,110 acres and destroyed more than 7,000 structures, remained about a third containedfirefighters said Monday. The fire was reported at 6:18 p.m. Tuesday, when wind gusts approaching 100 mph swept through the area.
Despite the lack of an official motive, the lawsuits say there is evidence pointing to Southern California Edison’s inaction. The public service, however, told state utility regulators that firefighters did not suggest that its electrical installations played a role in starting the fire.
Southern California Edison spokesperson Gabriela Ornelas told NBC News: “Our hearts remain with our communities during the devastating fires in Southern California and we remain committed to supporting them during this difficult time. »
“SCE crews, contractors and support partners are dedicated to safely restoring power to our customers. SCE understands that a lawsuit related to the Eaton fire has been filed but has not yet received a complaint. SCE will review the complaint upon receipt. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Patrick McNicholas, one of the attorneys representing an evacuee named Michael Kreiner, said a legal team met with more than 500 people affected by the fire and that the plaintiffs in the suit were individuals and entities, including tenants, living in Los Angeles County.
“We are committed to holding Southern California Edison accountable for its alleged negligence and seeking justice for the victims who lost their homes, livelihoods and loved ones,” McNicholas said in a statement.
Another suit was filed on behalf of veteran FedEx employee Evangeline Iglesias, who claims her Altadena home was destroyed “along with a lifetime of belongings.” It accuses Southern California Edison of negligence, premises liability and utility code violations.
The suit alleges that the utility should have been informed of the dangers based on forecasts of potentially catastrophic Santa Ana winds several days before they ravaged Los Angeles, fanning the massive Palisades Fire, the largest of the blazes in forest. At least 24 people died in the fires.
The suit says videos, photos and local witness accounts suggest electrical infrastructure operated by the utility started the fire in the Eaton Canyon area.
Despite “clear and repeated warnings,” the company “failed to de-energize all of its electrical equipment in the area that day,” the complaint states.
In the hours before the first report of a fire, the complaint adds, “data shows there were more than 300 faults” on Southern California Edison lines near the fire’s origins.
“Faults” refer to cases in which a power line may have come into contact with a tree branch or other debris, causing a spark.
The suit cites information from Bob Marshall, CEO of Whisker Labs, a company that analyzes power grid data, who said there was a “significant spike” in outages in the hours before the fires.
Marshall told NBC News that while it’s too early to know what caused these fires, his company’s data shows evidence of numerous electrical faults in areas near the fires, including in Eaton Canyon, likely caused by trees hitting power lines. He also said homes and communities in the immediate vicinity of where the fires broke out remained supplied with electricity.
“This means that the distribution lines that carry electricity to these communities were energized everywhere, so no comprehensive public safety power cutoff program was implemented to shut off electricity to prevent sparking coming from the network,” Marshall said.
In a statement a day after the Eaton Fire began, Southern California Edison noted that through this program, power was shut off during dangerous weather conditions, particularly to prevent wildfires.
The utility said its “distribution lines immediately west of Eaton Canyon were de-energized well in advance of the reported start time of the fire.”
Sunday, the the utility said it filed two electrical safety incident reports with the California Public Utilities Commission related to the current wildfires, including one for the Eaton Fire and another for the Hurst Fire, which burned nearly 800 acres in the neighborhood from Sylmar to Los Angeles.
The reports contain preliminary information and are provided “within two to four hours of a triggering event.” They are often submitted before the utility “can determine whether its electrical facilities are associated with an ignition,” Southern California Edison said.
Additionally, the utility said it received evidence preservation notices from an attorney representing insurance companies linked to the fire.
The utility also said a preliminary analysis of electrical circuit information from its four energized transmission lines in the Eaton Canyon area showed there had been no interruptions or electrical anomalies in the 12 hours preceding the start time of the fire and more than one hour after the start of the fire. .
One of the lawsuits says the utility’s electrical equipment was responsible for the 2017 Thomas Fire and the 2018 Woolsey fire“both of which destroyed thousands of homes, caused billions of dollars in damage, and displaced thousands of families.”
Financial analysts at Wells Fargo Securities estimated Monday that the latest wildfires in Los Angeles County could represent insured losses of about $30 billion, about 85% of which would involve homeowners.
