Cause of Eaton Fire may be downed power line, witness says
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Surveillance video and witness accounts are raising questions about whether the Eaton Fire in Pasadena, California may have been started by a downed power line.
The video shows power lines running through Eaton Canyon arcing in the high winds on Tuesday just after 6 p.m. Within minutes, it sparked a fire that exploded in size.
Cal Fire has a copy of the video, and while the person who owns it says they won't release it while the investigation is ongoing, others in the area say they witnessed the same thing.
A photo obtained by KABC that was taken at 6:21 p.m. Tuesday night shows the very early stages of the Eaton Fire.
Brendan Thorn, who lives in a house that backs up to Eaton Canyon, says his power flickered around 6:10 p.m. And a few minutes later, a neighbor called to say there was a fire under the power lines.
"Sure enough, I walk outside and those towers right up there at the very base of it, right around the bottom there was a fire maybe knee high starting about there," he said.
Harry Kertenian also witnessed the early stages of the Eaton Fire from Kinneloa Mesa on the other side of the canyon.
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"The winds were violent, 100 miles per hour," he said. "I've never seen anything like it."
He rushed to his property overlooking Eaton Canyon when his mother told him she saw the power lines sparking.
"That area in a matter off minutes went from one acre and just spread," he said. "Embers were just going everywhere."
KABC reached out to Southern California Edison, which operates high voltage power lines in Eaton Canyon.
PHOTOS: Powerful images show destruction from deadly Southern California fires
When asked about the fire's origin, they directed KABC to a statement saying they do not believe their equipment was involved: "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."
Kertenian, who's lived in the area for more than two decades, says he's 100% sure this could have been prevented.
He says it's been years since he's seen prescribed burns to remove flammable brush from beneath the power lines.
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"You have a fire and the power line drops, if your brush around it is clear, you're not going to spread," he said. "Brush is not cleared, it sparks, you've got winds, there was a ripple effect and the way the embers were flying it was just dramatic."
Kertenian says he hikes the Eaton Canyon Valley all the time and one thing he's noticed is that recently the whole wash area has been full of dry debris and dead brush. It's fuel, he says, for that fire.
"It's dead, its dry, you're leaving it basically as fuel," he said. "Make a decision, either cut it or expect what you got today."
Take a look at the latest stories and videos on the devastating Southern California wildfires here.
