FILE IMAGE shows investigators examining the area under the M16T1 tower above Altadena, close to where the Eaton Fire started on January 7, 2025.
Close examinations have begun in Eaton Canyon of electrical lines, towers and other equipment, which could hold clues to pinpointing the cause of the January fire that destroyed thousands of homes, as the result of dozens of lawsuits filed against Southern California Edison by fire victims.
An agreement between the victims and Edison, filed in court this week, detailed plans for drone and in-person inspections, as well as ‘tower climbs’ and samplings of soil and metal surrounding the towers.
“We already have extremely strong evidence that their equipment caused this fire, now it’s just about the why and the how,” attorney Mike Artinian of Bridgford, Gleason & Artinian, the law firm representing the lead plaintiff in the Eaton Fire cases, said of the examination of SCE equipment.
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No cause has been announced by law enforcement or fire officials, and Edison said Friday the information gleaned from the lawsuit-driven examinations this week and next week would be also be shared with the investigating agencies.
“We are committed to a thorough and transparent investigation,” said SCE spokesperson David Eisenhauer.
One particular tower immediately adjacent to where the Eaton Fire ignited January 7 has become a growing focus of the inquiry described in the court filing, as cellphone video appears to show the first flames growing from an area directly beneath it.
“Tower 3,” which is the smaller of 3 towers in the area of origin, is part of a decommissioned circuit that hasn’t carried live electricity since 1971. Edison raised the possibility in a February regulatory filing that the tower or circuit might have become momentarily energized through a phenomenon called induction.
