Report: Records show SCE towers in Altadena fire zone had ‘ignition’ risk
LOS ANGELES (KESQ) - Some Southern California Edison power lines near the suspected origin of the Eaton Fire were flagged as fire hazards and overdue for maintenance, raising questions about the utility's role in the catastrophic Jan. 7 blaze, according to company records cited today by the Los Angeles Times.
As investigations continue and lawsuits mount, the utility insists it took all necessary precautions to prevent a wildfire. However, company records filed with the state and uncovered by the Times reveal that Edison was aware some of its towers near the suspected ignition point posed fire hazards, the newspaper reported.
According to the Times, two power lines remained active until after the fire started, while a third line, decommissioned in 1971, had not carried electricity for decades. Yet some investigators and attorneys suing the utility believe the Mesa-Sylmar transmission line may have somehow become energized on Jan. 7.
Records show that 94 open work orders along these lines were still pending as of Dec. 31, with some flagged as "ignition risks" due to vegetation concerns, damaged insulators and loose connectors, the Times said. Seven of the 94 open work orders on Dec. 31 were for towers along the decommissioned line.
Videos from area residents appear to show flames at the base of all three towers just before the fire spread toward Altadena.
The company said in a filing last month that it was evaluating whether the blaze was started by a reenergization of its unused Mesa-Sylmar line.
"We don't know what caused the Eaton fire, and we're not seeing any typical or obvious evidence associated with utility-caused ignitions,'' Raj Roy, Southern California Edison's vice president of transmission, told the Times.
He added that the company is "going to do a thorough investigation ourselves, and once we know anything that tells us otherwise, we're definitely going to be transparent."
Veteran fire safety scientist Vyto Babrauskas told the newspaper that the decommissioned line could have become energized on Jan. 7 via a principle called induction.
"An electromagnetic field from the transmission line that is operating will basically cut through that dead line and induce a current in it,'' he explained.
He said he believes Edison's work orders cited ignition risks "precisely because of this induction possibility -- that high voltages would be induced.''
Babrauskas noted that energizing an old tower can easily lead to dangerous sparking.
In a Feb. 6 filing with the California Public Utilities Commission, Southern California Edison stated it is investigating multiple potential causes of the Eaton Fire, including whether the idle Mesa-Sylmar transmission line was somehow energized. The company noted that visual evidence did not reveal clear signs of arcing or significant changes to the tower's condition.
Attorney Mikal Watts, whose Texas-based firm co-filed a lawsuit last month on behalf of three Altadena residents who lost their homes in the Eaton Fire, has been a leading voice in the argument that sparking from the Mesa-Sylmar line may have ignited the blaze.
"They still need to eliminate the ignition risk and instead they've got work orders that are more than five years old that they did not perform,'' Watts told the Times.
On Tuesday, Edison provided an update on its investigation into the Eaton Fire's cause.
"The cause remains under investigation as part of our ongoing commitment to a thorough and transparent investigation,'' the company said. "Southern California Edison is beginning the next phase of inspections and testing of electrical equipment in Eaton Canyon, which started yesterday."
Los Angeles County and the cities of Sierra Madre and Pasadena filed lawsuits earlier this month against Edison, alleging the utility's equipment sparked the deadly Eaton Fire that scorched more than 14,000 acres and destroyed thousands of structures.
"The county's complaint against SCE alleges that witnesses, photos, and videos indicate the fire started directly under SCE transmission lines in Eaton Canyon,'' according to a statement from the county when the lawsuits were filed.
"After the fire started, SCE informed the California Public Utilities Commission that a `fault' occurred on its transmission line around the time the fire started. On February 6, SCE sent a letter to the CPUC stating that photographic evidence of its tower at the end of the idle Mesa-Sylmar transmission line shows signs of potential arcing and damage on the grounding equipment for two of the three idle conductors.''
Los Angeles County and the cities of Sierra Madre and Pasadena filed lawsuits earlier this month against Edison, alleging the utility's equipment sparked the deadly Eaton Fire that scorched more than 14,000 acres and destroyed thousands of structures.
"The county's complaint against SCE alleges that witnesses, photos, and videos indicate the fire started directly under SCE transmission lines in Eaton Canyon,'' according to a statement from the county when the lawsuits were filed.
"After the fire started, SCE informed the California Public Utilities Commission that a `fault' occurred on its transmission line around the time the fire started. On February 6, SCE sent a letter to the CPUC stating that photographic evidence of its tower at the end of the idle Mesa-Sylmar transmission line shows signs of potential arcing and damage on the grounding equipment for two of the three idle conductors."
The lawsuits by the county and cities seek to recover costs incurred responding and recovering from the blaze, which began amid a massive windstorm.
The Eaton Fire caused at least 17 deaths, destroyed 9,418 structures and damaged 1,073 more while burning 14,021 acres.
