Closing in on cause of Southern California's Eaton fire, activity swirls around Edison lines

Salvador Hernandez, Los Angeles Times on Apr 1, 2025

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LOS ANGELES — Southern California Edison crews are scaling tall electrical towers, testing the nearby soil and taking close-up images of electrical equipment, the latest detailed examination to determine exactly what sparked the disastrous Eaton fire.

It is likely to take more months for a final determination of what caused the fire. But Edison has been under scrutiny since Day 1 because residents saw and videotaped flames burning near transmission lines at the time the fire started on Jan. 7.

The flurry of activity at the fire site comes amid a growing number of lawsuits filed against Edison by residents as well as some public agencies. Edison has said it is cooperating with a state investigation.

Zeroing in on cause

The focus for investigators, Southern California Edison and the dozens of lawsuits that have been filed against the utility company has been around three transmission towers overlooking Eaton Canyon, where video from residents caught the first flames burning.

In particular, one of the three towers that has been idle for more than 50 years but somehow re-energized the day the fire began, has been a center of attention.

One lawsuit filed by plaintiff's attorneys concentrated on Edison tower M16T1. No electricity has been directed through the wires of the tower for more than 50 years, but the plaintiffs say tower M16T1 was somehow re-energized on Jan. 7, possibly sparking the fire. Blackened marks and other signs of damage on the steel structure suggest that arcing occurred, sending electricity through the equipment that was supposed to have been unused, according to their lawsuit.

Southern California Edison crews are working with the L.A. County Fire Department to inspect the towers and other electrical equipment.

"This is part of our commitment to a thorough and transparent investigation," said Kathleen Dunleavy, spokesperson for Edison. "We're working to analyze the potential and relevant data points with the assistance of third-party experts."

More data, more questions

Attorneys who have filed suit against Edison said they have also been receiving data from the company that could shed light on how electrical equipment in the region, and three towers in Eaton Canyon, behaved before, during and after the fire started on Jan. 7.

That includes thousands of videos and images of the electrical equipment.

But officials said inspections, testing and lab analysis could still take weeks, and analysis to determine what started the fire could still take longer.

Edison, working with several law firms that have filed suit, is conducting the testing as part of an court-agreed protocol.

"Wildfire litigation is both a sprint and a marathon," Eli Wade-Scott , a partner at Edelson PC, one of the firms representing hundreds of residents who have filed suit, said in an email. "We've been able to get high-quality data right away thanks to the court's determination."

Dozens of lawsuits have been filed on behalf of hundreds of residents. Los Angeles County, Pasadena and Sierra Madre have also filed suit against the utility giant in the closely watched litigation that could mean billions of dollars in damage and liability.

Flurry of inspections

The inspections began March 17 and are expected to continue for weeks.

Edison crews traveled to the site via helicopter last week and climbed the transmission towers to inspect different parts of the equipment. Law firms have also used drones equipped with cameras to get a closer look.

Experts this week are expected to conduct soil resistivity testing, looking at how the soil around the towers absorbs and reacts to the flow of electric current.

Unanswered questions

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Los Angeles County Fire Department are leading the investigation into the cause of the fire and have not said when they will issue their findings. Typically such investigations can take a year or more.

If tower M16T1 turns out to have been involved in the fire , it is not fully clear how it reenergized and whether Edison could have done more to prevent it.

The company has disclosed abnormalities in its equipment.

Edison said in February that its lines over Eaton Canyon saw a momentary increase of electrical current about the same time as the fire began. In a filing to California regulators on Jan. 27, Edison said a fault occurred on the Eagle Rock-Gould line about five circuit miles from the area where the fire started and caused an increase of current across the company's transmission lines.

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