A trio of lawsuits were filed Monday accusing Southern California Edison of sparking the Eaton fire — one of the deadly blazes that broke out last week amid a historic windstorm and destroyed hundreds of homes.
Lawyers for homeowners in the Altadena area announced the suits Monday, saying their clients either had to evacuate their houses or lost their homes entirely in the Eaton fire. Each of the suits blames the utility because the fire started under a Southern California Edison transmission tower. An official cause for the fire has not yet been determined.
“We believe that the Eaton fire was ignited because of SCE’s failure to de-energize its overhead wires, which traverse Eaton Canyon,” said attorney Richard Bridgford, who is representing a local homeowner.
The two other suits filed Monday — one representing a FedEx worker who lost their Altadena home, and a second representing multiple Altadena homeowners — echo that claim.
A spokesman for the utility, Jeff Monford, said the company is aware of the lawsuits but has not yet been served.
“SCE will review the complaint when it’s received. The cause of the fire continues to be under investigation,” he said. “Our hearts remain with our communities during the devastating fires in Southern California and we remain committed to supporting them through this difficult time.”
The utility has said in statements that it does not believe that its transmission tower was responsible for the fire. The Eaton fire is being investigated by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
A report by The Times found that Cal Fire has cordoned off the transmission tower where the fire appears to have begun.
The lawsuits point to Southern California Edison’s responsibility in other wildfires and the fact that the fire started under the transmission tower as evidence that the company’s power lines caused the fire, but experts have said it is too soon to draw any conclusions.
“It looks bad for Edison. But do we know? There’s a difference between looking bad and knowing. And we don’t know yet,” said Michael Wara, the director of the Climate and Energy Police Program at Stanford University.
The Eaton fire began burning around 6:15 p.m. on Jan. 7, and early footage and photos taken by residents and shared with The Times show the fire directly under a Southern California Edison transmission tower.
The fire has destroyed hundreds of structures and killed 17 people and is still only 33% contained.
