Edison Power Lines Appear to Ignite Eaton Fire in Footage (1)

Edison International Inc.‘s Southern California utility equipment created a powerful electric arc above Altadena, Calif., that ignited the deadly Eaton fire, a law firm suing the utility says, citing new video footage from a nearby gas station.

The security camera footage from an Altadena gas station appears to show electricity jumping and, ten minutes later, fire raging in the same location.

It’s a major development in litigation over liability for the fire that has killed at least 17 people and destroyed more than 9,000 homes and businesses.

“It’s premature for anyone to comment on footage until experts complete a review,” Southern California Edison spokesperson Kathleen Dunleavy said, adding the utility received and reviewed the video for the first time last night and that no one knows at this time what caused the fire. “We reached out to authorities last evening to ensure they had the footage that was shared with us, because it’s crucial they have evidence that would aid this investigation.”

Last week a judge in Los Angeles partially granted a request from Edelson PC that Southern California Edison be required to preserve power infrastructure near the location the fire originated and produce data from the four circuits closest to where the fire started.

Without that order, Edelson attorneys say evidence over the cause of the electrical arc could have been destroyed. Electric arcs happen when a current jumps between two conductors and can be caused by gaps, breaks, or frays in wires.

The firm will ask California Superior Court, Los Angeles County Judge Ashfaq G. Chowdhury to expand the order to include “key physical evidence of the cause of the fire shown in the video,” according to a Sunday news release.

“It’s only by sheer luck this footage exists, as SCE’s very first move was to plot the destruction or alteration of key evidence, including evidence that at trial we believe will prove why this arcing occurred,” Edelson PC founder Jay Edelson said in the news release.

The order came after Edelson asked the judge to require the utility preserve power equipment in Altadena.

According to court filings, the utility in a Jan. 13 email to Edelson attorney Ali Moghaddas said it was “unaware” of evidence that its facilities in Altadena were related to the start of the Eaton fire.

The utility said it planned to preserve only infrastructure associated with eight towers closest to the origin area. In subsequent emails the utility agreed to preserve equipment in a roughly one square mile zone close to the fire’s origin.

At least 20 lawsuits have been filed against the utility in L.A. state court.

Attorneys will appear in court Monday morning to report findings from evidence Edison produced last week.

The case is Iglesias v. Southern California Edison, Cal. Super. Ct., No. 25NNCV00200, 1/26/25.