First lawsuits filed against Southern California Edison over Eaton Fire
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Homeowners and renters who lost their homes in the Eaton Fire are suing Southern California Edison.
At least five lawsuits were filed on Monday, alleging the company failed to de-energize all of its electrical equipment despite red flag warnings issued by the National Weather Service.
"The property damage and economic losses caused by the Eaton Fire is the result of the ongoing custom and practice of Defendant of consciously disregarding the safety of the public and not following statutes, regulations, standards, and rules regarding the safe operation, use and maintenance of their overhead electric facilities," said a complaint filed by Evangeline Iglesias, who worked in a decades-long career with FedEx to buy a single family home which was destroyed in the fire.
On Monday, the CEO of the parent company of SCE confirmed to ABC News that investigations are underway to determine if any of their election equipment contributed to either the Eaton or Hurst fire ignitions.
"We've seen in your reporting the videos, we've seen the photos, so we know that there was fire there. We don't know what caused it," Pedro Pizarro told ABC7's David Ono on Monday. "Again, there was the obvious signature that we would see normally, but we have not been able to get up close to those lines because firefighters have determined that it hasn't been safe to do that yet."
"Whatever we find, we'll be transparent with our public," he added.
Three lawsuits allege that the company failed to de-energize all of its electrical equipment on January 7 despite "repeated and clear warnings" by the National Weather Service of wind gusts as high as 100 mph, and an extreme risk of fire.
"Despite knowing of an extreme fire risk, Defendants deliberately prioritized profits over safety. This recklessness and conscious disregard for human safety was a substantial factor in bringing about the Eaton Fire," said a complaint filed by a group of renters including Michael Kreiner, who was forced to evacuate.
"In my decades of experience handling wildfire litigation, the Eaton Fire is among the most devastating and heart-wrenching cases I've seen," said Patrick McNicholas, the attorney who represents Kreiner and other renters. "This goes beyond a failure of responsibility-it is gross negligence in an area highly vulnerable to wildfires, especially with well-documented weather alerts and high wind risks."
The complaints also allege that SCE failed to properly inspect and maintain their electric facilities.
"These Defendants failed to properly inspect and maintain their electric facilities in order to cut costs, with the full knowledge that any incident was likely to result in a wildfire that would burn and destroy real and personal property, displace homeowners from their homes and disrupt businesses in the fire area," said a complaint filed by Jeremy Gursey, who lost his home in Altadena.
According to Gursey's complaint, SCE's electrical transmission system "was in a dangerous condition, posing a significant risk of electrical failure, fire and property damage to surrounding property and communities."
"Had SCE acted responsibly, the Eaton Fire could have been prevented," the complaint says.
SoCal Edison shared a statement with ABC7 on Monday. A spokesperson for SCE said:
"Our hearts remain with our community during the devastating fires in Southern California, and we remain committed to supporting them through this difficult time. SCE crews, contractors and mutual- assistance partners are dedicated to safely restoring power to our customers. SCE understands that a lawsuit related to the Eaton Fire has been filed, but SCE has not yet been served with the complaint. SCE will review the complaint when it is received. The cause of the fire continues to be under investigation."
The complaints include public statements from residents and photos that allegedly show fire emerging from the base of power transmission powers owned and operated by SCE.
The Gursey complaint includes satellite photos from Google Earth that allegedly confirm the origin area of the fire where SCE's overheard circuit lines traverse Eaton Canyon.
In a press release by SCE included in the complaint, the utility company confirmed that the Eaton Fire began in SCE's service area.
Three lawsuits seek compensatory damages for the plaintiffs and punitive damages.
"The conduct alleged against Defendants in this complaint was despicable and subjected Plaintiffs to cruel and unjust hardship in conscious disregard of their safety and rights, constituting oppression, for which Defendant must be punished by punitive and exemplary damages in an amount according to proof," the Gursey complaint says.
The Eaton Fire, which destroyed at least 7,000 structures and left multiple people dead, has burned more than 14,000 acres.
Surveillance video and witness accounts have been raising questions about whether the Eaton Fire may have been started by a downed power line.
The video shows power lines running through Eaton Canyon arcing in the high winds last week just after 6 p.m. Within minutes, it sparked a fire that exploded in size.
ABC News contributed to this report.
