Edison Utility Faces First Death Lawsuit Over Raging LA Wildfire

Edison International Inc.’s southern California utility was sued over the death of a woman whose home burned in one of the catastrophic Los Angeles fires, in a case brought by a prominent civil rights lawyer on behalf of a historically Black community.

Evelyn “Petey” McClendon, who drove a bus for Pasadena Unified School District, died Jan. 7 when the Eaton Fire destroyed her home and those of family members in the Altadena neighborhood outside the city of Los Angeles, according to the complaint. She was in her late 50s.

It appears to be the first wrongful-death suit ...