Electrical tower eyed as possible cause of deadly Eaton Fire in Los Angeles area: reports
LOS ANGELES (KTLA) — An electrical tower in Eaton Canyon is being investigated as the possible origin of the deadly fire that shares its name.
According to the Los Angeles Times, investigators from CalFire are looking at an electrical transmission tower where the first flames from the Eaton Fire were reportedly spotted.
"Video and images from four residents and obtained by The Times appeared to show that before the Eaton fire exploded ... the first flames of the fire burned behind Pasadena homes, at the base of a nearby electrical tower," the Times reports.
Several of those witnesses have been interviewed by law enforcement, the newspaper added.
A person whose home was destroyed in the Eaton blaze claims in a lawsuit, filed Monday, that the equipment owned by Southern California Edison — which also owns the tower in question — sparked the fire, The Associated Press reports.
The company has said it does not believe its equipment sparked the blaze and did not respond to the AP's request for comment. It did, however, acknowledge that fire agencies are investigating whether its equipment might have started a separate, smaller LA-area fire.
A Jan. 9 incident report from SCE reported no "electrical or operational anomalies" at the site until more than an hour after the Eaton Fire had already begun to rage.
"To date, no fire agency has suggested that SCE's electric facilities were involved in the ignition or requested the removal and retention of any SCE equipment," the incident report reads.
It will likely take months before investigators are able to definitively state the cause of the Eaton Fire, which has scorched more than 14,000 acres and claimed at least 11 lives.
Investigators have been making regular trips up the mountain to the site of the electrical tower, which has been closed off to the media, as well as firefighters and the utility itself.
"Nobody is allowed up there besides investigators,” CalFire investigator Wayne Howerton told the LA Times. “It’s currently an investigation into the start of the Eaton fire.”