Legal battles are already starting, but the wind-driven flames that destroyed hundreds of homes in Los Angeles County and transformed entire communities into moonscapes have not yet been put out.
Southern California Edison was accused of starting the Eaton fire, which destroyed parts of Altadena and killed 16 people, in at least three lawsuits filed Monday, January 13, in Los Angeles County Superior Court on behalf of over a dozen victims.
There was a wildfire of litigation on Monday as lawyers prepared to file more lawsuits in the devastating Pacific Palisades fire.
According to the legal allegations in the Eaton fire, sparks from Edison high-voltage power lines that were left in place despite the high risk of fire started the 14,117-acre fire. According to two of the lawsuits, minutes before the fire started, a resident living close to the scene of the initial fire report saw the electricity flicker.
According to a lawsuit filed on behalf of several victims and brought by Lincoln Anthony Wallen, the power cables arced, showering the dry brush beneath the transmission tower with sparks.
According to the Wallen action filed by Alexander Trey Robertson IV and other lawyers, the Eaton fire has become a traumatic event for its victims, who went from homeowners to homeless in a matter of hours due to no fault of their own.
According to another lawsuit filed by Michael Kreiner, the defendants willfully put profits ahead of safety even though they were aware of the high possibility of a fire. The Eaton Fire was largely caused by this carelessness and deliberate disrespect for public safety.
According to an analysis Edison submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday, there were no operational or electrical anomalies or disruptions in the 12 hours prior to the fire beginning, and no such issues were discovered until over an hour after the fire was initially reported.
SCE spokesperson Gabriela Ornelas stated that Edison was aware of the lawsuit and will examine the legal allegations after the business was served. According to Ornelas, the cause of the fire is still being looked into.
SCE’s parent company’s CEO, Pedro Pizarro, told KABC-TV that the utility is conducting its own inquiry.
We are aware that there was fire there because we have seen the videos and the pictures in your reporting. Pizarro stated, “We don’t know what caused it.” We will be open and honest with the public about whatever we discover.
“I’ve litigated about seven wildfire cases against Edison, and this is exponentially bigger than any other Southern California wildfire,” attorney Robertson retorted. Despite initially denying responsibility, they ultimately consent to mediate.
Fire officials in Los Angeles County also reaffirmed that they are still looking into the matter.
Photos of flames licking at the base of a transmission tower taken with a cellphone are included in the cases. A complaint by Brendan Thorn, a resident of Pasadena who lived on Canyon Close Road, next to Eaton Canyon, appeared to be a major factor in two lawsuits. He claimed that around 6:10 p.m. on January 7, he became aware of his power flicker.
He received a call from a neighbor a short while later informing him that there was a fire in Eaton Canyon beneath the power lines. According to Jeremy Gursey’s complaint, Thorn was cited as saying, “The towers were right up there at the very base of it, and right around the bottom there was a fire maybe knee-high starting about there.” At 6:18 p.m., the Eaton fire was initially reported.
The complaints were filed by Bridgford, Gleason & Artinian, Lipsmith LLP, Robertson & Associates, Foley Bezek Behle & Curtis, and Singleton Schreiber.
Fire departments were looking into whether SCE equipment was involved in the initiation of the 799-acre Hurst fire, according to a report Edison provided to the state utilities commission on Friday. According to early data, the Eagle Rock-Sylmar circuit encountered a relay at 10:11 p.m. on January 7, after the fire was detected at around 10:10 p.m.
Although a fallen powerline was found at a tower connected to the Eagle Rock-Sylmar circuit, SCE stated that it is unsure if the damage happened before to or following the fire’s onset.
According to published accounts, fire investigators in the Pacific Palisades are considering Skull Rock, a hiking destination, as a possible fire cause for the 23,713-acre fire. On New Year’s Day, there was another fire at the location.
Los Angeles municipal firefighters hurried to the hillside community just after the new year to extinguish a brush fire, around six days before the Palisades fire began.
With the help of a helicopter delivering water drops, personnel fought an approximately 8-acre fire that began just off the 1600 block of Via Las Palmas for more than four hours.
Shortly before the incident was reported, locals informed the Washington Post that they could hear fireworks nearby.
According to a series of bulletins from the LAFD, the fire’s forward advance was halted soon after 3:30 a.m. that morning, and it was fully contained just before 5 a.m.
It was unclear on Monday whether investigators were looking into the possibility of a resurgence of the New Year’s Day fire, which began less than a mile north from the Palisades fire’s origin, as they look into the cause of the fire.
According to The Post, which cited its own examination of images, videos, satellite imaging, radio transmissions, and witness accounts, the Palisades fire began close to the previous fire, and experts told the publication that it might have rekindled due to windy circumstances.
According to authorities, the Palisades fire, which began at around 10:30 a.m. on January 7, has destroyed or damaged over 5,300 buildings and burned over 23,700 acres.
According to spokesperson Ginger Colbrun, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives dispatched a team of 15 investigators from across the nation over the weekend to look into what caused the Palisades fire.
According to Colbrun, one team would do analysis on the spot, looking at damage, debris, and burn patterns, while the other would concentrate on obtaining outside data, such as witness accounts, digital evidence, and surveillance film.
