A California utility company, Southern California Edison, revealed on Thursday (Friday AET) that its equipment is believed to be the cause of a small wildfire in Los Angeles. This incident occurred on the same day as two significant blazes in the region, which tragically resulted in the loss of at least 29 lives and the destruction of numerous homes.
Southern California Edison made this acknowledgment regarding its likely involvement in the Hurst Fire, a blaze that fortunately did not lead to any fatalities or the destruction of buildings. The utility disclosed this information as part of a mandatory submission to state utility regulators.
Furthermore, Southern California Edison disclosed in a separate filing that it is currently investigating the possibility of an inactive transmission line being energized and potentially starting the deadly Eaton Fire, which caused extensive damage in Altadena. Although there are multiple lawsuits against SCE alleging that the utility’s equipment ignited the Eaton Fire, Southern California Edison insists that it is premature to conclusively determine the cause of the fire.
“SCE has not identified typical or obvious indications that would support this association, such as broken conductors, fresh arc marks in the preliminary origin area, or evidence of faults on the energised lines running through that area,” the utility said in a news release announcing its filings.
The Eaton Fire, which killed at least 17 people, was fully contained last week.
Full containment was also reached on the Palisades Fire, the largest of the blazes that destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 12 people.
