Attorneys: Video purports to show Eaton Fire sparked by SCE lines
Attorneys who contend Southern California Edison equipment sparked the Eaton Fire that erupted during a Jan. 7 windstorm -- destroying thousands of structures and leaving at least 17 people dead -- were pointing today to newly released video that they believe is evidence the utility's transmission lines were the source of the inferno.
A series of lawsuits have already been filed against the utility, alleging its equipment was responsible for the fire that began around 6 p.m. Jan. 7. As of Monday, the fire had burned more than 14,000 acres, killed at least 17 people and destroyed 9,418 structures, many of them homes.
A cause of the fire has not been officially determined.
Attorneys representing various residents in the Altadena and Pasadena areas, however, have already sued, pointing the finger at Edison, which has responded by saying the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
"Our hearts remain with our communities during the devastating fires in Southern California, and we remain committed to supporting them through this difficult time,'' Edison officials said when the first volley of suits were filed on Jan. 13.
Over the weekend, attorneys from the Edelson law firm posted a surveillance video online taken from an Altadena gas station that the lawyers contend shows SCE power lines arcing during the Jan. 7 windstorm, and sparks subsequently falling to the ground. Within minutes, flames can be seen on the hillside.
We've obtained video that indicates the Eaton Fire in Los Angeles started after an apparent arc on SoCal Edison lines. We're back in Court for a hearing tomorrow fighting to make sure that SoCal Edison keeps all the evidence that we will put before a jury in this case.… pic.twitter.com/dihnMMQu3Z
— Edelson PC (@edelsonpc) January 26, 2025
Law firm founder Jay Edelson issued a statement calling the video "the clearest and most damning evidence yet'' that SCE equipment sparked the fire.
David Eisenhauer, a spokesman for SCE, told City News Service, "That video requires thorough analysis, and it would be irresponsible for anyone to comment on the footage until it has gone through expert review."
He said SCE received the video over the weekend from the New York Times, and the utility immediately shared it with fire investigators.
Investigators working to determine the cause of the fire have been previously seen working in the area of the SCE transmission lines. The utility has said previously that transmission lines on the east side of Eaton Canyon were still energized the night the fire erupted, although distribution lines on the west side were powered off. SCE chief executive Steven Powell told the Los Angeles Times that the winds were not considered strong enough to warrant de-energizing the transmission line.
SCE previously denied any claims that their infrastructure caused the fire. The company has also stated a nearby campfire could have led to the disaster. In a letter to the California Public Utilities Commission, the company later acknowledged there was a fault detected on its transmission line.
Edelson attorneys were in court in Glendale Monday and won an extension of a restraining order requiring SCE to preserve potential evidence in the investigation.
"The court's order expands its earlier preservation order to ensure that the six-mile span of lines running away from that tower, as well as other physical evidence that might show why that tower went up, is preserved,'' Edelson attorney Ali Moghaddas said in a statement.
Meanwhile, another group of attorneys and advocates known as LA Fire Justice held a news conference Monday in Pasadena, also pressing their claims that SCE equipment led to the fire. The group is a coalition of wildfire lawyers and fire origin and causation experts who said they believe the fire was preventable.
"I also want to make sure you understand that we want these folks to have their voices heard loud and clear, and that message is, when a utility fails to invest in its infrastructure, fails to control the vegetation or ignores very clear warnings, weather warnings about the dangerous situations to come -- the results are devastating and deadly,'' Doug Boxer, an attorney, said.
Mikal Watts, a trial lawyer, cited multiple videos that captured the night the Eaton Fire sparked on Jan. 7. He said the group's investigators used cutting-edge technology to identify the causation of the fire and reconstructed its progress.
Boxer and Watts have previously litigated wildfire cases, most recently the 2017 Tubbs Fire which burned the counties of Sonoma and Napa in Northern California.
Watts said the cost of the Eaton Fire could be up to $10.5 billion to $14.5 billion. He added that New York-based hedge funds estimate the cost closer to $20 billion, while figures from Morgan Stanley put it between $15 billion and $30 billion.
"I hope it's not that high, but we have work to do,'' Watts said. "There's an entire community that was leveled by Southern California Edison. It did not have to happen.''
LA Fire Justice will host a town hall meeting Feb. 7 at 6:30 p.m. and another on Feb. 8 at 10 a.m. -- both at the Pasadena Masonic Temple, located at 200 S. Euclid Ave.
The group is urging victims of the fire to attend, and to also submit any photographs and video they may have from when the Eaton Fire erupted, which could play a pivotal role.
"We've been over it, and over it, and over it,'' Erin Brockovich, a consumer advocate and member of LA Fire Justice, said, calling the fire the result of a utility's "failed infrastructure."
"We're not going to stop the Santa Ana winds, but there are more things that we can be doing and that we should be doing that makes this state and our communities have a defensible position so we don't continue to have these types of fires,'' she added.
