CALIFORNIA – Southern California Edison (SCE) submitted two letters to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), February 6, providing updates on its ongoing analysis into the origin of the Eaton and Hurst wildfires in Los Angeles County.
Although SCE believes its equipment ignited the Hurst Fire, it is still investigating if its equipment played a part in the start of the Eaton Fire.
Both the Hurst and Eaton fires, which burned a combined 14,820 acres, are currently 100% contained.
Part of the hardware holding up the top power line broke
In its report, SCE said it believes that its equipment may be associated with the ignition of the Hurst Fire which damaged two structures in the Sylmar area.
A Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) investigation reported that the fire seemed to have started in an area north of Saddle Ridge Road, where SCE has a transmission tower, called Tower 6. The tower supports two high-voltage power lines.
At Tower 6, part of the hardware holding up the top power line broke, causing it to fall onto the middle line. Both lines then fell to the ground, which triggered an automatic shutdown of the Eagle Rock-Sylmar power line at 10:11 p.m. on January 7, 2025.
SCE said they replaced the damaged hardware and it is being kept as evidence for the investigation.
Four power lines in Eaton Canyon show no issues
SCE said it understands that LAFD, supported by Cal Fire, is leading the investigation into the cause of the Eaton Fire, which is still ongoing.
Initial checks of the electrical data from the four power lines in Eaton Canyon show no issues on those lines until over an hour after the fire reportedly started.
Edison said it shut down several lines in the area at different times:
- Mesa-Vincent No. 2 at 7:17 p.m. (about an hour after the fire started).
- Mesa-Vincent No. 1 and Goodrich-Gould at 10:35 p.m.
- Eagle Rock-Mesa at 12:35 a.m. on January 8.
All these lines were off until January 9-10, when SCE turned them back on.
On January 26, SCE said it learned about a surveillance video showing two flashes of light in Eaton Canyon on the night of January 7. They are studying the video to see if there’s any connection between the flashes and SCE’s equipment.
Multiple lawsuits have been filed against SCE
As of early February 2025, multiple lawsuits have been filed against SCE in connection with the Eaton Fire, alleging that the utility’s negligence in maintaining and de-powering critical equipment contributed to the devastating fire.
The Eaton Fire claimed 17 lives, destroyed 9,413 structures and damaged 1,074 others in Altadena and Pasadena.
SCE’s full submissions to the CPUC can be found here (Eaton) and here (Hurst).
