Glendale, Jan 28: Southern California Edison on Monday reported a fault on a power line connected miles away from ones located near the origin of the Eaton Fire, the deadly blaze that ignited outside of Los Angeles on January 7 and killed at least 17 people.
Edison says that there is still no evidence that its equipment caused the blaze, which has destroyed more than 9,000 structures in and around the community of Altadena. The official investigation into the fire’s cause has not been completed.
The utility’s new filing with the California Public Utilities Commission comes on the same day as a court hearing in a case filed by attorneys for a homeowner whose property was destroyed in the fire.
The attorneys allege the utility’s equipment sparked the fire, pointing to video taken during the fire’s early minutes that shows large flames beneath electrical towers.
The attorneys have now introduced new video they say shows arcing and electrical sparking on a transmission tower in Eaton Canyon just before the wind whipped the fire into a fast-moving and destructive blaze. They say the video came from security footage of a gas station.
The Eaton Fire was one of two massive and deadly blazes that sparked on January 7 amid hurricane-force winds that whipped across the parched Los Angeles region.
At least 28 people have died and firefighters have continued battling the blazes for weeks. The Eaton Fire is now nearly contained, meaning firefighters almost have it surrounded, as the region gets its first rain in months. (AP)
