The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles announced the lawsuits Thursday morning in response to the Eaton Fire in January, which burned through Altadena and parts of Pasadena, and the Fairview Fire in 2022, which started in Hemet.

Acting United States Attorney Bill Essayli said the lawsuits allege a “troubling pattern of negligence” that resulted in loss of life and property.

“Edison is responsible, but for Edison’s negligence, these fires would not have started,” Essayli said during a news conference.

The lawsuits seek more than $40 million in damages for the Eaton Fire and approximately $37 million for the Fairview Fire. Those numbers represent the damage and costs incurred by the federal government, according to the U.S Attorney’s Office.

Essayli said he wants SoCal Edison to bear the burden of the cost of the destruction, not California ratepayers.

Diane Castro, a SoCal Edison spokesperson, told LAist the company is reviewing the lawsuits and will respond through “appropriate legal channels.”

“Our thoughts are with the community impacted by the Fairview Fire,” she said. “We continue our work to reduce the likelihood of our equipment starting a wildfire. SCE is committed to wildfire mitigation through grid hardening, situational awareness, and enhanced operational practices.”

For the Eaton Fire, Castro said it was heartbreaking for many who live and work in the Los Angeles area.

How we got here

The Eaton Fire, which ignited Jan. 7, burned nearly 8,000 acres in the Angeles National Forest, killed 19 people and destroyed nearly 10,000 structures — many of them homes.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the fire started because of “faulty power infrastructure owned, maintained, and operated” by Southern California Edison.

The lawsuit alleges that the utility failed to properly maintain the power lines in the area.

An investigation to determine an official cause of ignition remains ongoing. However, Essayli said his office believes the evidence is clear that SoCal Edison was at fault.

“We want Edison to change the way it does business,” Essayli said. “It does not maintain its infrastructure in a way to prevent fires. We do not want another fire igniting.”

Pasadena, Sierra Madre and Los Angeles County also previously filed separate lawsuits against SoCal Edison for its alleged role in the Eaton Fire.

The Fairview Fire started after a sagging power line “owned, maintained and operated by SoCal Edison” came into contact with a Frontier communications messenger cable on Sept. 5, 2022. That created sparks that ignited vegetation, prosecutors said.

The fire burned nearly 14,000 acres within the San Bernardino National Forest, the fire burned 44 structures, killed two people and injured three others — including two firefighters.

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The fire, which burned in Hemet, scorched a staggering 28,098 acres, killed two people and injured three others. The fire destroyed 36 structures, including 22 single-family homes. The fire also damaged eight structures, including five homes.

The wildfire’s containment and extinguishment cost an estimated $38,850,000. Meanwhile, the blaze caused at least $1,206,644 in property damage to utility facilities, according to the complaint filed by the commission.

The utility is being fined for four violations that CPUC reported. Among the violations in the citation was that SCE failed to maintain the clearance of their electrical wires from hitting other power lines.

It was found that the Fairview Fire was likely triggered by a sagging electrical wire that ignited vegetation below.

During the Fairview Fire investigation, the commission’s Safety and Enforcement Division observed two “scorch marks” on the phase 1B conductor and the Frontier Communications messenger cable, “consistent with electrical arc damage,” the complaint states.

CalFire’s own investigation also confirmed that SCE’s conductor and the Frontier Communications messenger cable had a clearance of “zero,” meaning they collided at some point.

Failure to maintain that clearance is a violation of the utilities code. A fourth violation mandates that conductors operating up to 22,500 volts must maintain a vertical above-ground clearance of 17 feet.

The citation, issued on March 21, also accuses SCE of failing to respond to the commission’s investigation into the cause of the blaze. The citation details that SCE was “consistently late” and delayed responding to that investigation.

The utility giant’s response to the investigation “hindered and delayed SED’s ability to investigate the Fairview Fire incident within a reasonable timeframe.”

During the investigation, the citation alleges that SCE treated its first deadline as “unilaterally negotiable and with a lack of seriousness.”

The utility “did not provide SED with timely responses,” which violates a public utilities code.

CPUC said they asked SCE 55 questions in December 2022, which were due by Jan. 26, 2023.

“SCE failed to respond to DR-01 on the due date and did not seek an extension from SED. Instead, SCE informed SED that it had decided to extend the deadline to respond to DR-01 to January 20, 2023, February 10, 2023, and February 24, 2023, and that it would be providing the responses on a piecemeal basis,” according to the citation.

Also, according to CPUC, SCE missed its “self-granted” extension. Ultimately, the utility only responded to five out of 55 questions that it was required to answer.

After a series of SCE requests for more extensions, SED finally told SCE that April 28, 2023, would be the final deadline to answer the remaining questions.

On May 24, 2023, SED issued its Notice of Inclusion of Violations, and said that the delays were “unacceptable.”

On July 10, the utility responded to that notice and “claimed that the delay…was due in part to a family emergency faced by an SCE employee who worked on the investigation,” the complaint reads.

“However, SED’s position is that SCE’s mismanagement of its internal resources created the delay and hindered SED’s investigation,” the citation continues.

This isn’t the first time the Southland utility has faced scrutiny and lawsuits over devastating wildfires. More recently, the utility is being sued for igniting the Eaton Fire, which leveled entire neighborhoods in Altadena at the start of the year.

The post SoCal Edison Fined $2.2M Fine For RivCo’s Deadly Fairview Fire appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

By www.gov.ca.gov

On September 6th, 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that California has secured a Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help ensure the availability of vital resources to suppress the Fairview Fire burning in Riverside County.

Driven by temperatures in excess of 110 degrees, wind gusts and drought conditions, the Fairview Fire has burned more than 2,700 acres to date and is currently 5% contained.

The FMAG, which is provided through the President’s Disaster Relief Fund on a cost-share basis, will enable local, state and tribal agencies responding to the fire to apply for 75-percent reimbursement of their eligible fire suppression costs. The program, which is administered through the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), provides rapid financial assistance to communities impacted by fires.

Cal OES Fire and Rescue and CAL FIRE personnel are working in concert with state and local agencies in response to the rapidly-moving fire. The State Operations Center is actively coordinating the state’s fire response, dispatching mutual aid and addressing emergency management needs.

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