Law360 (January 13, 2025) — Southern California Edison was hit with multiple lawsuits by Altadena fire victims in California state court Monday, accusing the investor-owned public utility of negligently managing power-line equipment that on Jan. 7 purportedly sparked the Eaton Fire, which has already damaged over 7,000 structures and killed at least 16 individuals.SoCal Edison was sued Monday by multiple Altadena, California, residents seeking to hold the utility liable for starting the deadly Eaton Fire. One complaint includes a screenshot from a video purportedly showing the start of the fire in the Eaton Canyon underneath SoCal transmission towers on Jan. 7. (Court Documents)
The trio of complaints filed by fire victims whose homes have been destroyed accuse Southern California Edison Co. of neglecting its duty to maintain highly flammable vegetation around its live power lines. The suit claims the utility failed to de-energize power lines that cross Eaton Canyon, which is north of Pasadena, California, despite a red flag wind warning issued by the National Weather Service the day before the fire was sparked and repeated warnings in the days leading up to Jan. 7 that strong Santa Ana winds could gust up to 100 miles per hour.
In one complaint against SoCal Edison and Edison International, Altadena resident and FedEx worker Evangeline Iglesias, who is represented by plaintiffs firm Edelson PC, claims there is “clear evidence from video footage, photographs and witness accounts” that the fire was caused by the defendants’ electrical equipment, and the lawsuit includes photographs showing blazes in Eaton Canyon below power lines. Read more here.