Southern California Edison (SCE), the primary electricity supply company in the region, is facing another lawsuit from families affected by the Fairview Fire last month in Riverside County, alleging the utility’s negligence sparked the fire.
The blaze—which burned over 28,000 acres—broke out Sept. 5 in Hemet during a severe heatwave, killing two and forcing thousands to evacuate. Firefighters fought the blaze for 44 days and the cause is still under investigation, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, better known as Cal Fire.
The new lawsuit, filed Oct. 14 in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that “Edison negligently, recklessly and willfully failed to maintain an appropriate clearance area between the electrical equipment in its utility infrastructure and surrounding vegetation.”
Plaintiffs—homeowners, business owners, renters, and other individuals—are seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
“Our thoughts remain with the families and friends of the people who lost their lives and were injured during the Fairview Fire and we’ve been working with CalFire throughout the review of the fire,” SCE spokesperson David Eisenhower told The Epoch Times in a statement. “[T]he cause of the fire has not yet been determined, and we will continue to support CalFire in their review.”
The suit claims it wasn’t an “act of God” that sparked the fire, but instead high-voltage transmission and distribution lines and other SCE electrical equipment that ignited surrounding vegetation.
According to the lawsuit, plaintiffs have property damage, suffered losses of possessions and their resulting personal expenses have included medical bills and lost wages. Ongoing emotional distress is also included in the suit.
A similar lawsuit was filed against SCE by another group of Fairview Fire victims in September.
SCE claimed in a filing in that case Sept. 6 that “circuit activity [occurred] close in time to the reported time of the fire”—indicating a possibility that the fire started from the utility’s equipment.
On Oct. 2, SCE wrote a letter to the Public Utilities Commission indicating, in part, that while the investigation was ongoing, Cal Fire investigators had identified two areas of interest regarding the possible ignition of the fire, one near a line associated with facilities owned by Edison and Frontier Communications, a telecommunications company.
“There’s a very involved planning process in any kind of infrastructure,” Eisenhower said. “But again, I want to say it’s really important to note that it hasn’t been determined yet, and we'll continue to support CalFire in that review.”
