When a Creek fire exploded in Angeles National Forest in 2017, the power line was suspected as a cause.
Witnesses reported that they had seen a line that had broken in the high -voltage transmission tower of the Rettujuna Canyon when the fire broke out, and the investigator attracted attention.
“I concentrated there and there was a fire, and Sparks came out of the pylon … it spread in each direction,” said the resident.
However, it will take seven years for the Federal authorities to conclude that the fire that destroyed the 70 houses was caused by South California Edison.
After accessing Edison’s data in 2022, the federal investigator of the US Forest Bureau made his only determination last year. The federal government has filed a lawsuit that the utility giant not only caused a fire, but also said that the origin of the fire had been appropriate for appropriate data that could have been identified earlier. We are seeking damages of $ 40 million.
“SCE was neglected to cause a fire in Ogawa, including failure to build, maintain, and operate the transmission lines and equipment in a safe and effective work order,” said the federal complaint. I mentioned it.
Edison denies that the device caused a fire.
Creekfire was burning at night in Silmer’s Shadow Hills district on December 5, 2017.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Creek’s fire, a small incident compared to the fire that swept the LA County on January 7, indicated a long -lasting road to survey of major flames.
Edison is currently undergoing a fierce scrutiny of the January Eaton Fire, destroying 7,000 houses and killing 17 people in the Altadena region. The witness reported that the fire began under the Eedison Tower of Eaton Canyon. The video and photos also show the early moment of the fire that appears under the electric tower. Utility promises to cooperate in investigating the cause of the fire.
The responsibility is useful for lawyers who have already appealed. On the other hand, Edison says that the power grid has no evidence of a disability before or in the event of a fire that suggests that the device is liable.
Many vehicles for investigation. If the utility is found to be negligent, it has a financial meaning. Utility’s stock prices that have already fallen after the fire occurred can plummet.
Considering the interests, experts say that it is important to give time to the investigators.
“It takes time. Crygate Associates Public Security Consultant and former fire department chief of the Livermore -Greasanton Fire Department Stewart Gary said:
Large utility is determined to be some of the worst fire in California. The paradise camp fire, which burned 153,000 acres and killed 85 people, was determined to have been caused by the high -voltage PG & E transmission line about 100 years ago. Utility acknowledged 84 counts and agreed to pay $ 13.5 billion to the victims.
However, the survey may find other causes. PG & E was also the focus of a large tabs fire in Santarosa, which killed 22 people in 2017. However, Cal Fire concluded that it was not a PG & E -line, but a private power line that caused flames.
The investigator examines the base of the electric tower eradicated by the Eaton Fire.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
“Intentional decision” of “suppressing evidence”
The focus on Edison and Eaton’s fire is that in court, in court that data on the creek fire is not approaching.
The transmission line was the early focus of Ogawa’s fire, which burned more than 15,000 acres in Sunfer Nando Valley and destroyed more than 100 structures.
The first survey conducted by the United States Forest Bureau concluded that five weeks later caused a fire in water in Los Angeles and the power line operated by the Power Bureau. However, the survey was complicated by the fact that LADWP officials stated that a fire began six minutes before the power line was impaired. The survey report was released in 2020, and the insurance company and fire victims that appeal to LADWP requested data in April 2020 on the distribution line known as the Lopez circuit near the fire. 。
According to a memorandum of civil lawsuits submitted by insurance companies and victims, the plaintiffs did not reply and served Edison in July in July. In the first document production in September, the plaintiff claimed in their memorandum that Edison did not provide related data. However, in December, when the restriction law expires, the plaintiff claimed that Edison had handed over the disability data.
“The obstacle data has clearly documented some large -scale ampare wave events at the Lopez Circuit when the creek fire was ignited,” plaintiffs wrote in a lawsuit.
The plaintiff has stated that Edison has already had disability data in 2018. Only a few days after a fire broke out.
“”[Edison] The plaintiffs made an intentional decision at the oldest investigation to suppress and fix the LADWP evidence.
The discovery of the fire changed in 2024.
“The power line or device owned by Edison in South California has experienced a disability or malfunction that generates sufficient heat to ignite nearby vegetation, and ignites a fire in Ogawa. We will provide you, “said Thomas Guzman, an investigator at the Forest Bureau. “No evidence of other causes has been found, and all other causes have been excluded.”
Edison denies discovery.
“I don’t think SCE devices are involved in the fire of Ogawa’s fire. We don’t agree with the creek fire, and we work on this problem through the right court process. I’m, “
Danley Bee did not comment on Edison’s allegations that the fire was relevant to the fire of fire.
Creek Fire examples emphasize how many data investigators depend on public -interest business companies that provide many data used to determine the possibility of a fire.
When building their lawsuit against Edison, the Creek Firefight lawyer quoted the 1997 attack by Cal Fire in the Rosmeed’s office in Edison in Rosmeed. At that time, Cal Fire investigators had been looking for documents that may have revealed that utility played a role in a great fire in Carabasus, one year before it was found to be the end.
In a secret strategy, Cal Fire has planted investigators in a utility office that pretends to be architectural students to create a floor plan for future reasons.
The raid was the bottom of the relationship between Edison and the investigators, with agreement between the department and the public -interest business for procedures that should be followed during the investigation of the cause of the wildfire. Edison is not facing criminal accusations.
Lawyers said in court documents in the Creek Fire Incident that Edison did not follow the 1997 agreement after the 2017 fire. Just five days after the fire broke out on December 10, 2017, CAL Fire Investigator demanded data for the Lopez ward in Edison.
At that time, the Lopez patrol ward was thought to be outside the origin of the fire, but the investigator demanded it to complete the thorough “thorough” survey of the fire.
Despite the request, Edison was an important evidence of the data related to the Lopez patrol ward, “which would have demonstrated the increase activity of the ampa that SCE was desperately trying to hide.” and.
“If the claim is correct, Edison doesn’t seem to be approaching the system,” said Michael Wara, director of Stanford’s climate energy policy program.
Source link
