Fire agencies appear to be investigating whether Southern California Edison equipment may have contributed to at least one of the fires that have ravaged Los Angeles County for the past week, SCE has said, though the utility agency added that it’s unknown whether its infrastructure contributed to that fire.
SCE, in a Sunday, Jan. 12, press release, confirmed that fire agencies were investigating whether its infrastructure contributed to the Hurst fire. While a downed conductor was discovered in the area, SCE said, it remains unknown whether that had anything to do with the fire, which had burned nearly 800 acres in the San Fernando Valley as of midday Sunday.
“SCE does not know whether the damage observed occurred before or after the start of the fire,” SCE said in a Friday, Jan. 10, incident report.
The Hurst fire began on Tuesday, Jan. 7, and, as of midday Sunday, had burned 799 acres and was 89% contained, according to Los Angeles County’s Coordinated Joint Information Center.
The other blaze for which there has been speculation about the cause is the Eaton fire — for which SCE says there’s no evidence that it’s equipment was at fault. SCE has also not heard that fire agencies were investigating its role in that blaze, the utility company said in a Thursday, Jan. 9, incident report. SCE’s Sunday news release made no mention of any investigation into the cause of the Eaton fire.
The Eaton fire had burned more than 14,000 acres as of midday Sunday and was 27% contained, the county’s CJIC said.
“SCE conducted preliminary analysis of electrical circuit information for the four energized transmission lines in the Eaton Canyon area,” SCE said in its Sunday press release. “That analysis shows no interruptions or operational/electrical anomalies in the 12 hours prior to the fire’s reported start time until more than one hour after the reported start time of the fire.”
SCE, meanwhile, is working to turn power back on to properties that lost service amid the strong winds and subsequent blazes that set much of Los Angeles County on fire, the utility company said in Sunday’s press release.
SCE had restored power to more than 500,000 customers ‒ more than 90% of the outages – since Tuesday, the utility company said on Sunday morning. But another 62,662 customers were still without power. Turning power back on might take longer than usual, SCE said, because of equipment damage and access restrictions in wildfire areas.
Crews are working around the clock to restore power, SCE said.
“We greatly appreciate the dedicated efforts of SCE’s employees and the mutual assistance colleagues who are working around the clock to support our communities during this challenging time,” Steven D. Powell, president and CEO of SCE, said in a Sunday statement. “Their unwavering commitment and hard work are truly commendable.”