The head of Southern California Edison said Wednesday that winds blowing in Eaton Canyon on Jan. 7 were not strong enough to merit de-energizing a powerful electrical transmission line that is now being investigated as a possible ignition point for a fire that devastated a large swath of Altadena.
Residents who live near Eaton Canyon reported seeing flames erupt at the bottom of the tower as the fire got underway and took photos and videos of the scene. Over the weekend, investigators with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection were at the tower and said the area was off-limits because it was part of the investigation into what sparked the Eaton fire.
Chief Executive Steven Powell reiterated in an interview with The Times the company’s assertion that its data showed no abnormalities in the 12 hours leading up to the ignition of the Eaton fire.
The National Weather Service had warned of life-threatening and destructive winds for the day fire broke out in Pacific Palisades and Altadena.
Powell said Edison was monitoring the weather closely Jan. 7 but said the winds did not meet the threshold the company uses for de-energizing transmission lines.
Usually winds would have to be 60 to 80 mph for the company to consider the de-energization of transmission lines, Powell said, adding that the readings Edison saw were lower than that.
The Eaton fire was first reported just after 6:11 p.m. At around 6 p.m., the weather service recorded wind gusts of 59 mph at Edison’s Eaton Canyon monitoring site, which is at the southern end of Eaton Canyon Park near the corner of New York and Altadena drives.
Higher gusts were recorded at that site before and after, according to weather service data: 63 mph at 2:20 p.m. and 70 mph at 9:30 p.m. It’s unclear what the wind readings were at the tower, which is located in the hills of the canyon.
Transmission lines are the more powerful part of the electrical grid as opposed to distribution lines. Distribution lines refer to the electrical poles, often wooden, that directly serve neighborhoods and residents. The transmission lines are more structurally sound, usually served by metal towers, and they transport higher voltage at higher speeds.
Powell added that the towers in the area were built in the 1970s and 1980s and that both the lines and towers had most recently been inspected in 2024.
“We do an aerial inspection that’s either helicopter or most often we’re using drones,” he said, “because you can get up close and get great images of every little piece, and then our inspectors are going on the ground with binoculars and looking at them.”
Investigators have not determined a cause for the fire — which burned an estimated 7,000 structures and killed at least 16 — and have declined to say what evidence they found around the tower.
Still, numerous lawsuits have been filed this week naming Edison as a defendant and claiming the utility caused the Eaton fire.
Powell said he understands the frustration and conclusions that residents have come to after seeing early images of the fire burning under one of Edison’s towers. He felt the same way when he saw the videos.
“My heart sank because you see that, and immediately you have to, you know, anybody’s mind would if they saw that was the beginning stages of the fire … from there you can’t see anything else around, your mind will go [to thinking it was caused by Edison electrical equipment] absolutely,” he said.
But the data don’t bear out the footage, Powell said, though he couldn’t say with certainty that the fire was not caused by Edison lines.
Powell said Edison might be responsible for the ignition of the Hurst fire near Sylmar. The CEO said there was a downed power line at the site of the Hurst fire’s ignition, though data show that abnormal electrical activity was spotted at 10:11 p.m. Jan. 7, a minute after the fire started at 10:10 p.m.
Powell said it’s not clear whether the downed power line caused the fire or whether the power line was downed because of an already burning fire.
Edison has been found to have caused deadly fires in the past.
The company’s power lines ignited the Thomas fire in 2017, a Ventura and Santa Barbara County fire that killed two and created the conditions that led to a mudflow in Montecito that killed 21 people.
That fire was caused by a “line slap,” which occurs when power lines hit each other and cause sparks.
Powell spoke from Edison’s “laydown yard” near the Eaton fire zone, where the company is coordinating its power restoration efforts. Even as investigations into Edison’s possible responsibility for causing the fire get going, the company is hyper-focused on getting power and service back to residents in the fire zones.
The company is focused on restoring power to areas where some houses remain, Powell said. In parts of the Eaton fire zone where entire blocks were razed by flames, it is less of a priority to get power back on. He said some parts of Altadena could have power back in days to a week, while other areas may take weeks to months.
State regulators had criticized Edison just months before the Los Angeles County fires broke out, questioning whether the utility’s repairs to aging transmission lines were holding up.
But Edison has said its maintenance work has reduced the likelihood that its equipment might cause wildfires by more than 85%.
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