Altadena fire destruction (Photo – Melissa Michelson) Money (Photo – Public domain)
Southern California Edison has launched new legal actions as it continues to defend itself against nearly 1,000 lawsuits tied to the deadly Eaton Fire, shifting some of the blame to local governments, water providers, and a natural gas utility.
By News Desk
In court filings submitted Friday, January 16, in Los Angeles Superior Court, the electric utility accused Los Angeles County, Pasadena Water and Power, five additional water agencies, and Southern California Gas Company of actions and failures it says worsened the fire’s impact. The claims were filed as cross-complaints in existing cases, along with a separate complaint against SoCalGas.
The Eaton Fire ignited Jan. 7, 2025, killing 19 people and destroying more than 9,400 homes and other structures. The blaze burned more than 14,000 acres before it was fully contained later that month.
Southern California Edison has previously acknowledged that circumstantial evidence suggests one of its power lines, which was not energized at the time, may have sparked the fire amid extreme wind conditions exceeding 100 miles per hour. Investigators from Cal Fire and the Los Angeles County Fire Department are still determining the official cause.
In its latest filings, Edison argues that the scale of the destruction could have been reduced with more effective emergency response and infrastructure performance. The utility alleges that county agencies failed to issue evacuation alerts in a timely manner, noting that residents in east Altadena did not receive their first warning until roughly 30 minutes after the fire started, and that evacuation notices in west Altadena were not sent until 3:25 am the following morning. Eighteen of the 19 people who died in the Eaton Fire lived in that area. Edison also contends that water agencies, including Pasadena Water and Power, failed to maintain adequate water pressure and supply as the fire spread, limiting firefighters’ ability to combat the blaze.
The new legal actions add another layer to the complex and ongoing litigation surrounding one of the most destructive fires in Southern California history.
Leave a Reply