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Edison, Southern California, was suspected of demolishing one of the two transmission towers on Wednesday, launching a fatal Eaton fire in January.
The removal of the tower is the next step in a study to determine how California’s second most destructive wildfire began in the San Gabriel Mountains. According to Socal Edison, the tower will be moved to a site where investigators can examine the equipment more closely.
The demolition of the tower began in April when the crew removed the conductors and connected the idle power lines. The rest of Tower 208 was removed by a Sky Crane helicopter Wednesday afternoon and was inspected by a team of stakeholders before further disassembly, flying to a nearby landing zone, the agency said.
The Mesa-Silmer Line, which has been idled for decades, has been analyzed as part of an investigation into how the Eton Fire began on January 7th, and has since been burning to Altadena and burning homes and businesses. Edison raised the possibility in a February regulatory submission that a phenomenon called induction could have temporarily energised the tower or circuit.
“Both towers will be disassembled with all pieces tagged, loaded into trucks and brought to the facility for further testing. “It will take two to three days to complete.”
The electric tower, which allegedly began in Altadena in January, was demolished Wednesday for further investigation. Lolita Lopez is reporting NBC4 News on May 7, 2025 at 6pm.
As part of the investigation, line workers disassemble and remove the tower are wearing GoPro cameras to document the process, SoCal Edison said.
“We ran every test we could imagine before trying to move anything,” Ferguson said. “Everyone wants to know what happened, whether SCE equipment played a role or not, so we do due diligence to get to that bottom. Getting these answers is very important to us and our community.”
Videos containing cell phone videos showing the first flames growing from the area just below one of the videos are part of the investigation. Several videos were revealed in days and weeks of the fire that appeared to show the first flames at Eton Canyon near the utility infrastructure.
Research into separate states and counties is also underway.
In March, Los Angeles County filed a lawsuit against Edison in Southern California over the Eton fire. The lawsuit, named Socal Edison and Edison International, seeks to recover costs and damages from the fire.
According to Calfire, several Etonfires, which erupted on January 7th and spread rapidly in strong winds, destroyed 9,400 structures, resulting in 18 deaths. County parks, nature centers, trails and other community infrastructure were damaged in a 14,000 acre fire, according to a county news release that released the lawsuit.
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