A law firm suing Southern California Edison said new video appears show electrical arcs and sparking on the night of Jan. 7 at the origin of the deadly Eaton Fire in Altadena.
The security camera video from a Pasadena gas station was obtained by Edelson PC over the weekend. In an edited version of the video, the law firm claims it shows arcing in the canyon where the fire started in a Santa Ana windstorm before flames destroyed homes and businesses in the community northeast of Los Angeles.
The Arco gas station video, stamped with an incorrect date and time, also shows tree branches and traffic light signs blowing in the powerful wind gusts that fanned the Eaton Fire. In the upper right corner of the video, a light can be seen flashing in the darkness.
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A few minutes later, the orange glow of flames appears in the distance.
The manager and general manager of the gas station in Pasadena told NBCLA they released the video in a effort to answer lingering questions about the start of one of the most destructive and deadliest fires on record in California.
The Eaton Fire started at about 6:18 p.m. near Altadena Drive and Midwick Drive, according to Cal Fire. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, Cal Fire said.
The video is the latest that has come to light in the days and weeks after the fire that appeared to show the first flames in Eaton Canyon near utility infrastructure.
In a new regulatory filing with California Public Utilities Commission, Southern California Edison said it is aware of the video. The company said it is reviewing the video to assess any potential relation between the flashes in the video and the company's equipment in Eaton Canyon.
The company also said in detected an anomaly on a nearby transmission circuit at about the time the flashes appeared, but SoCal Edison said it was detected miles away from the tower in the video.
"This is part of an electrical grid," said Kathleen Dunleavy, a Southern California Edison spokesperson. "And so periodically there will be these types of faults. Right now we're, we're looking into this and we are our investigations continue"
Edison officials have said they do not believe their equipment started the fire.
“Preliminary analysis shows that, because SCE’s transmission system is networked, the fault on this geographically distant line caused a momentary and expected increase in current on SCE’s transmission system, including on the four energized lines (in the fire area)," SCE's filing said. "The current increase remained within the design limits and operating criteria for these circuits and, as intended, did not trigger system protection on these lines.”
At a court hearing Monday, Edelson PC asked a judge to preserve physical evidence in the investigation into the fire's origins.
SoCal Edison insisted in court that Pasadena Water and Power also owns high-voltage lines in the area.
"SCE’s distribution lines immediately to the west of Eaton Canyon were de-energized well before the reported start time of the fire, as part of SCE’s Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) program," the company said in an earlier statement. "SCE is currently conducting a review of the event."