Two lawsuits filed Monday against Southern California Edison allege the utility failed to de-energize its power equipment and clear brush where a blaze sparked near Pasadena, one in a cascade of wildfires 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 are continuing to determine the cause and origin of the multiple fires that began almost a week ago.
The Eaton Fire, which has burned through more than 14,110 acres and destroyed over 7,000 structures, remained about one-third contained, fire officials said Monday. The fire was reported at 6:18 p.m. Tuesday, when wind gusts approaching 100 mph ripped through the region.
Despite no official cause, the suits contend there is evidence pointing to Southern California Edison’s inaction. The utility, however, has told state public utilities regulators that fire officials have not suggested its electric facilities played a part in the fire’s ignition.
Southern California Edison spokesperson Gabriela Ornelas told NBC News, “Our hearts remain with our communities during the devasting fires in Southern California and we remain committed to supporting them through this difficult time.”
“SCE crews, contractors and mutual assistance 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 been served with a complaint. SCE will review the complaint when it is received. The cause of the fire continues to be under investigation.”
Patrick McNicholas, one of the lawyers representing an evacuee named Michael Kreiner, said a legal team has met with more than 500 people affected by the fire, and that the suit’s plaintiffs are individuals and entities, including renters, living in Los Angeles County.
“We are committed to holding Southern California Edison accountable for their alleged negligence and to seeking justice for victims who have lost their homes, livelihoods and loved ones,” McNicholas said in a statement.
Another suit was filed on behalf of a veteran FedEx employee named Evangeline Iglesias, who says her home in Altadena was destroyed “along with a lifetime of possessions.” She is accusing Southern California Edison of negligence, premises liability and violations of the public utilities code.
The suit alleges that the utility should have known of the dangers based on forecasts of potentially catastrophic Santa Ana winds several days before they tore through Los Angeles, fanning the massive Palisades Fire, the largest of the wildfires. At least 24 people have died in the fires.
The suit says video footage, photos and local accounts suggest electrical infrastructure operated by the utility set off the fire in the Eaton Canyon area.
Despite “repeated and clear warnings,” the company “failed to de-energize all of its electrical equipment in the area that day,” the suit says.
In the hours preceding the first report of a fire, the complaint adds, “data shows that there were more than 300 faults” on Southern California Edison’s lines in the vicinity of the fire’s origins.
“Faults” refer to instances in which a power line may have come into contact with a tree limb or other debris, causing a spark.
The suit cited information from Bob Marshall, the CEO of Whisker Labs, a company that analyzes electrical grid data, which said there was a “significant spike” in faults in the hours leading up to 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 many electrical faults in the areas near the fires, including in Eaton Canyon, likely caused by trees hitting power lines. He also said that homes and communities in immediate proximity to where the fires started remained powered.
“That means that the distribution lines that carry the power to those communities were energized throughout, so there was no full Public Safety Power Shutoff program implemented to turn off power to prevent sparking from the grid,” Marshall said.
In a statement a day after the Eaton Fire began, Southern California Edison noted that through the program, power is shut off during dangerous weather conditions, specifically to prevent wildfires.
The utility said its “distribution lines immediately to the west of Eaton Canyon were de-energized well before the reported start time of the fire.”
On Sunday, the utility said it filed two electric 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 has burned almost 800 acres in Los Angeles’ Sylmar neighborhood.
The reports contain preliminary information and are provided “within two to four hours after a triggering event.” They are often submitted before the utility “can determine whether its electric facilities are associated with an ignition,” Southern California Edison said.
Additionally, the utility said, it had received evidence preservation notices from counsel representing insurance companies in connection with the fire.
The utility also said a preliminary analysis of electrical circuit information for its four energized transmission lines in the Eaton Canyon area showed there were no interruptions or electrical anomalies in the 12 hours prior to the fire’s reported start time through more than one hour after the blaze began.
One of the suits notes that 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 Los Angeles County wildfires could amount to insured losses of about $30 billion, with about 85% involving homeowners.
