Eaton Fire was created by South California Edison, Federals say

From Malena CaroloCalmness

This story was originally published by CalmattersS Register about their ballots.

The US Department of Justice this week filed a lawsuit against South California Edison, claiming that utility equipment caused Ethan’s deadly fire, which passed through Los Angeles County in January. The official cause of the fire has not yet been released.

His civil case wants the reimbursement of the expenditure of the fire and the rehabilitation of 8,000 burned acres of Angeles National Forest.

“Sce knew about the potential danger caused by the high -wind event and the risks caused by power and transmission lines, but failed to take action to prevent fire from igniting,” the lawsuit said.

Putting the fire, the court department said, costs more than $ 40 million, and the damage will require significant efforts to rehabilitation.

In support of its claim that the fire was caused by utility equipment, the Ministry of Justice cites public statements made by Pedro Pisaro, the executive director of the parent company of utility services, including a January statement, where Pizarro said that “we believe” we believe that the equipment of the SCE can be connected to the ignition. “

The California Department of Forestry and Fire protection and the Los Angeles County Fire Service are still investigating the official cause of the fire. But Edison said his transmission lines in Eaton Canyon have an increase in electric current when the fire has begun and that an idle may have been repeated. The Los Angeles Times reported that usefulness changed its policy on how such structures are grounded after the fire. Prior to grounding procedures were resolved by engineers on a case -by -case basis; They were then located on the basis of the type of equipment and the material from which the equipment was made.

The Ministry of Justice also filed a second case against the FairView fire company in 2022, similarly claimed to be responsible in Southern California Edison.

“We are reviewing these lawsuits and we will respond through the relevant legal channels,” said South California spokesman Edison Kathleen Dunlev. “Edison continues our work to reduce the likelihood of SCE’s equipment to start fire.”

Federal work comes weeks after southern California Edison announced a voluntary program This will allow those affected by the fire to file a claim for more appropriate payment in an attempt to restrict court cases, according to its website, many of which have already been filed against the utility program. The victims of the fire saw this as a way of reducing more payments.

“The Justice Department of Justice demonstrates southern California’s desire to endanger California’s families through a non -compliant model of negligence,” Kili Gombacher, co -founder of the California Center for Fire Center. “The model cost life, destroyed homes and left polluted whole communities

This article was Originally Published on CalMatters and was reissued under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Noderivatives License.