January 13, 2025 | Wildfire News Updates
LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Three lawsuits were filed Monday morning against Southern California Edison in connection with the Eaton Fire.
A statement released by Richard Bridgford of Bridgford, Gleason & Artinian said, “Based upon our investigation, our discussions with various consultants, the public statements of SCE, and the video evidence of the fire’s origin, we believe that the Eaton Fire was ignited because of SCE’s failure to de-energize its overhead wires which traverse Eaton Canyon-despite a red flag PDS wind warning issued by the national weather service the day before the ignition of the fire. Our hearts go out to the many victims of this and the other Los Angeles fires.”
The second lawsuit claims there is “clear evidence from video footage, photographs, and witness accounts that the fire was caused by electrical equipment operated by SCE.”
Another alleges that SCE failed to comply with essential electrical and fire safety standards, including failing to maintain power lines properly and overgrown vegetation.
The Eaton Fire, which destroyed at least 7,000 structures and left multiple people dead, has burned more than 14,000 acres.
Surveillance video and witness accounts have been raising questions about whether the Eaton Fire may have been started by a downed power line.
The video shows power lines running through Eaton Canyon arcing in the high winds last week just after 6 p.m. Within minutes, it sparked a fire that exploded in size.
On Monday morning, before the lawsuits were announced, ABC7’s David Ono spoke with Pedro Pizarro, the president and CEO of SCE’s parent company Edison International and asked about the electric tower.
“We’ve seen in your reporting the videos, we’ve seen the photos, so we know that there was fire there. We don’t know what caused it,” said Pizarro. “Again, there was the obvious signature that we would see normally, but we have not been able to get up close to those lines because firefighters have determined that it hasn’t been safe to do that yet.”
“Whatever we find, we’ll be transparent with our public,” he added.
ABC7 reached out to Southern California Edison on Monday about the lawsuits and is awaiting a response.
Read the full article and check for updates on ABC7’s website
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