The county of Los Angeles and metropolis of Pasadena, together with different public entities, filed lawsuits in opposition to Edison Worldwide and its subsidiary Southern California Edison (SCE) on Wednesday, alleging their position in igniting considered one of California’s worst wildfires.
The Eaton hearth, one of many main fires that started in early January within the foothills east of Los Angeles, scorched greater than 14,000 acres, practically the dimensions of Manhattan, and led to dozens of deaths. Authorities have but to launch an official trigger for the main fires, together with the Eaton blaze.
The County of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Flood Management District, the Consolidated Fireplace Safety District of Los Angeles County, the Metropolis of Pasadena and the Metropolis of Sierra Madre filed lawsuits in search of compensation for damages to public sources and infrastructure brought on by hearth.
“The lawsuits seek to hold Southern California Edison responsible for this devastating fire and recover the critical infrastructure and taxpayer resources that the fire destroyed,” mentioned Ed Diab, a founding companion of Diab Chambers representing the general public entities, in a press release.
The lawsuits, like others confronted by the utility, cite eyewitness accounts and pictures that present a fireplace on the base of a transmission tower owned by SCE previous to the fast unfold of the flames by highly effective wind gusts.
Edison Worldwide mentioned that it’s reviewing the just lately filed lawsuits in opposition to the corporate and would reply by the suitable authorized channels.
A spokesperson for SCE added that as a result of investigation being in its early phases, the corporate is unable to supply an estimate of potential prices.
The lawsuits state that whereas the extent of damages and losses from the Eaton Fireplace and its aftermath are nonetheless being assessed, they’re anticipated to be not less than tons of of tens of millions of {dollars}.
In its fourth-quarter earnings launch, Edison Worldwide mentioned it had not but concluded whether or not its gear was related to the Eaton hearth.
