ATF investigation of the Eaton and Palisades wildfires: SUCA’s response to the Los Angeles County Public Utilities Commission complaint
Jeff Monford, a SCE spokesman told the Los Angeles Times that the utility needed to review the complaint but they were still committed to supporting their communities. The company claimed last week that they had stopped the fire in its tracks by de-energizing power lines.
Investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) have not determined a cause for the fire; the agency says it has just begun its investigation into the Eaton and Palisades wildfires that are still burning. Speculation hasn’t stopped despite that.
According to a Southern California Edison spokeswoman, she was aware of a filing in LA Superior Court but had not received a response or had a chance to review it.
In addition to video and photographs, we have accounts from residents who said that they saw arcs on the lines cause the fire, according to Ali Moghaddas.
SoCal Edison and other power companies say they preemptively turned power off during the height of the fire, following California Public Utilities Commission guidelines.
In an interview with ABC News on Monday, Pedro Pizarro said that employees who were remotely monitoring the lines saw no indications of any electrical anomalies that would typically cause sparking.
“That said, we have not been able to get up close to the equipment yet because firefighters have not deemed the area safe for entry,” Pizarro told ABC’s George Stephanoplous. Once we can get close to it, we’ll inspect and be transparent with the public.
Moghaddas says the utility company’s response is out of a playbook they’ve used to avoid responsibility in the past, and alleges the company has not been transparent about exactly which lines and transmission towers were de-energized during the peak of the Santa Ana winds last week.
“They had the tools to try to mitigate the possibility of this wildfire, and instead, they chose to ignore those warnings,” Moghaddas told NPR. They didn’t do what they were supposed to do.
Southern California Edison has paid hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements related to at least seven other wildfires in recent years, including $80 million dollar settlements to the U.S. Forest Service for the 2017 Thomas Fire and to the County of Los Angeles for the 2020 Bobcat Fire.
The Eaton fire was still only 35 percent contained as of Tuesday morning, and strong winds threaten to fan the flames in the coming days. Already, the blaze has scorched more than 14,000 acres and 7,000 structures. Eaton and other raging wildfires nearby have killed at least 2 dozen people over the past week.