Screengrab from a video provided by LA Fire Justice
In a new development in the legal battle surrounding the deadly Eaton Fire, attorney Mikal Watts, working with LA Fire Justice, has unveiled enhanced surveillance footage that allegedly shows a spark and molten debris falling from a Southern California Edison (SCE) transmission tower — igniting the fire that killed 18 people and destroyed more than 9,000 structures.
By News Desk
The footage, taken from a nearby ARCO gas station, was analyzed using LiDAR technology and photogrammetry to create a 3D digital reconstruction of the fire’s origin. Experts concluded that the fire began at an abandoned tower, part of a circuit originally constructed over a century ago and left standing despite known risks and prior disasters.
“Wildfires don’t start without an ignition,” Watts said. “A spark alone can create that fire… this spark on Edison’s tower is the only thing that separates a catastrophe from the town of Altadena still being here.”
Adding historical weight to the case, Watts revealed archival photographs from the Huntington Library showing the original construction of the towers over a century ago. While many of these towers were dismantled following a 1971 earthquake that disabled the Sylmar Substation, a segment of the circuit — towers numbered 208 through 227 — was inexplicably left standing.
“Despite knowing the risk from prior disasters, Southern California Edison did nothing to remove this idle tower,” Watts emphasized.
Consumer advocate Erin Brockovich condemned the utility, saying, “For the money you earn as a for-profit corporation… that you continue to operate with failed infrastructure that caused this type of devastation is unacceptable. It was a complete, colossal failure.”
A lawsuit was filed in February by the Law Office of Douglas Boxer and the Watts Law Firm, on behalf of Altadena residents Walt Butler, and Luis Gonzalez and Denise Diaz, all of whom lost their homes in the fire.
The full 3D video of the fire’s origin has been made available for public viewing and download.
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