Latest news with #DavidEisenhauer
Los Angeles Times
28-06-2025
- Los Angeles Times
Flaw in Edison's equipment in Sylmar sparked two major wildfires in last six years, lawyers say
Southern California Edison's admission that its equipment may have ignited the Hurst fire in the San Fernando Valley on Jan. 7 is being seized on by lawyers suing the utility company for another fire in the same area nearly six years earlier. Both the Saddleridge fire in 2019 and the Hurst fire this year started beneath an Edison high-voltage transmission line in Sylmar. The lawyers say faulty equipment on the line ignited both blazes in the same way. 'The evidence will show that five separate fires ignited at five separate SCE transmission tower bases in the same exact manner as the fire that started the Saddleridge fire,' the lawyers wrote of the Hurst fire in a June 9 filing in Los Angeles Superior Court. The lawyers said the January wildfire is 'further evidence' that a transmission pylon known as Tower 2-5 'is improperly grounded.' Edison told the state Public Utilities Commission in February that 'absent additional evidence, SCE believes its equipment may be associated with the ignition of the Hurst Fire.' But the company denies claims that its equipment sparked the 2019 fire, which tore through Sylmar, Porter Ranch and Granada Hills — all suburbs of Los Angeles — burning 8,799 acres. 'We will continue to focus on facts and evidence — not on preposterous and sensational theories that only serve to harm the real victims,' said Edison spokesman David Eisenhauer. He declined further comment on the case. The Saddleridge wildfire destroyed or damaged more than 100 homes and other structures, according to Cal Fire, and caused at least one death when resident Aiman El Sabbagh suffered a cardiac arrest. Edison is being sued by insurance companies, including State Farm and USAA, to recoup the cost of damages paid to their policyholders. Homeowners and other victims are also seeking damages. A jury trial for the consolidated cases is set for Nov. 4. In their June 9 filing, the plaintiffs' lawyers also claimed Edison wasn't transparent with officials looking into the cause of the 2019 fire. One fire official characterized the utility's action as 'deceptive,' the filing said. Edison discovered a fault on its system at 8:57 p.m. — just three minutes before the blaze at the base of its transmission tower was reported to the Fire Department by Sylmar resident Robert Delgado, according to the court filing. But Edison didn't tell the Los Angeles city Fire Department about the fault it recorded, the filing said. Instead the fire department's investigation team discovered the failure on Edison's transmission lines through dash cam footage recorded by a motorist driving on the 210 Freeway nearby, the filing said. When Timothy Halloran, a city Fire Department investigator, went to the location of the flash shown on the motorist's camera, he found 'evidence of a failure on SCE's equipment,' the filing said. Halloran said in a deposition that employees of the business located where the evidence was found told him that Edison employees 'attempted to purchase' footage from the company's security camera on the night of the fire, the filing said. 'The video footage shows a large flash emanating from the direction of SCE Transmission Tower 5-2,' the filing said. Halloran testified in his deposition that he believed Edison was trying to be 'deceptive' for attempting to purchase the security camera footage and not reporting the system fault to the Fire Department, the lawyers said. Halloran didn't respond to requests for comment. Edison's maintenance of its transmission lines is now being scrutinized as it faces dozens of lawsuits from victims of the devastating Eaton fire, which also ignited on Jan. 7. Videos showed that fire, which killed 18 people and destroyed thousands of homes, starting under a transmission tower in Eaton Canyon. The investigation into the cause of the fire is continuing. Victims of the 2019 fire say they've become disheartened as Edison has repeatedly asked for delays in the court case. 'Many plaintiffs have not yet been able to rebuild their homes' because of the delays, wrote Mara Burnett, a lawyer representing the family of the man who died. Burnett noted that Aiman El Sabbagh was 54 when he suffered a fatal cardiac arrest during the incident. His children, Tala and Adnan El Sabbagh, 'feel they were robbed of things they treasured and worked hard for with no apparent recompense in sight.' Both the Saddleridge and Hurst fires included a similar chain of events where a failure of equipment on one tower resulted in two or more fires igniting under different towers elsewhere on the line, according to lawyers for the plaintiffs. Edison designed and constructed the towers that run through Sylmar in 1970. They hold up two transmission lines: the Gould-Sylmar 220 kV circuit and the Eagle Rock-Sylmar 220 kV circuit. In the case of the Saddleridge fire, investigators from the Los Angeles Fire Department and the California Public Utilities Commission found that at 8:57 pm on Oct. 10, 2019, a Y-shaped steel part holding up a transmission line failed, causing the line to fall on a steel arm. The failure caused a massive electrical fault, lawyers for the plaintiffs say, that sparked fires at two transmission towers that were more than two miles away. State and city fire investigators say the Saddleridge fire began under one of those towers. And they found unusual burning at the footing of the other tower, according to a report by an investigator at the utilities commission. The utilities commission investigator said in the report that he found that Edison had violated five state regulations by not properly maintaining or designing its transmission equipment. This year's Hurst fire ignited not far away on Jan. 7 at 10:10 p.m. It also began under one of Edison's transmission towers. According to Edison's Feb. 6 report to the utilities commission, the company found that its hardware failed, resulting in equipment falling to the ground at the base of a tower. The lawyers for the plaintiffs say that they now have more evidence of the fire's start. They say that investigators found that the hardware failure set off an event — similar to the 2019 fire — that resulted in five fires at five separate transmission tower bases on the same line. One of those fires spread in high winds to become the Hurst fire. Officials ordered 44,000 people to evacuate. Air tankers and 300 firefighters contained the fire before it reached any homes.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Edison electric tower damaged while being dismantled for Eaton fire investigation
A Southern California Edison transmission tower that was being removed as part of an investigation into what caused the Eaton fire was damaged Thursday as it was being lifted by a helicopter, officials said. The damage occurred when the top portion of the tower came into contact with power lines, as it was being lifted, said David Eisenhauer, spokesperson for Southern California Edison. The tower was one of two structures that were being removed as part of their investigation into the cause of the devastating Eaton fire on Jan. 7. The other idle transmission tower, known as M16T1, or Tower 208 and located at the suspected point of ignition, was removed on Wednesday. It was broken up into two pieces and flown to a landing pad to be transported to a warehouse. That tower was removed without incident. But that was not the case with the second tower, located near Gould substation in La Cañada Flintridge. "We're acknowledging there was some potential damage when an SCE tower was transported via helicopter," Eisenhauer said. No injuries were reported because of the incident. Read more: As investigators close in on cause of Eaton fire, activity swirls around Edison lines It was not immediately clear how much damage was sustained by the tower, or if it would have any impact on the ongoing investigation. Eisenhauer said the company was still assessing the damage to the tower, which was moved Thursday evening to a landing pad. The tower was to be disassembled into three parts, and taken away to be tested Wednesday, but work was paused when the top part came into contact with power lines. Eisenhauer said the power lines that made contact with the tower were not energized at the time. While the official cause of the fire is still under investigation by Los Angeles County Fire, Edison International Chief Executive Pedro Pizarro told The Times that induction — a rare occurrence when idle tower and power lines are reenergized — is now a leading theory into how the deadly fire was sparked. As part of an agreement among SCE, county investigators and a growing list of law firms that have filed suit against the utility giant, the two towers were scheduled to be removed and taken to a warehouse in Irwindale, where they would be tested and examined to look for clues. SCE has told state regulators that four lines, including the dormant Mesa-Sylmar line, saw a surge of electrical current about the same time that the fire was started. The company also detected a fault on the Eagle Rock-Gould line, which also connects to the Gould substation. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
09-05-2025
- General
- Los Angeles Times
Edison electric tower damaged while being dismantled for Eaton fire investigation
A Southern California Edison transmission tower that was being removed as part of an investigation into what caused the Eaton fire was damaged Thursday as it was being lifted by a helicopter, officials said. The damage occurred when the top portion of the tower came into contact with power lines, as it was being lifted, said David Eisenhauer, spokesperson for Southern California Edison. The tower was one of two structures that were being removed as part of their investigation into the cause of the devastating Eaton fire on Jan. 7. The other idle transmission tower, known as M16T1, or Tower 208 and located at the suspected point of ignition, was removed on Wednesday. It was broken up into two pieces and flown to a landing pad to be transported to a warehouse. That tower was removed without incident. But that was not the case with the second tower, located near Gould substation in La Cañada Flintridge. 'We're acknowledging there was some potential damage when an SCE tower was transported via helicopter,' Eisenhauer said. No injuries were reported because of the incident. It was not immediately clear how much damage was sustained by the tower, or if it would have any impact on the ongoing investigation. Eisenhauer said the company was still assessing the damage to the tower, which was moved Thursday evening to a landing pad. The tower was to be disassembled into three parts, and taken away to be tested Wednesday, but work was paused when the top part came into contact with power lines. Eisenhauer said the power lines that made contact with the tower were not energized at the time. While the official cause of the fire is still under investigation by Los Angeles County Fire, Edison International Chief Executive Pedro Pizarro told The Times that induction — a rare occurrence when idle tower and power lines are reenergized — is now a leading theory into how the deadly fire was sparked. As part of an agreement among SCE, county investigators and a growing list of law firms that have filed suit against the utility giant, the two towers were scheduled to be removed and taken to a warehouse in Irwindale, where they would be tested and examined to look for clues. SCE has told state regulators that four lines, including the dormant Mesa-Sylmar line, saw a surge of electrical current about the same time that the fire was started. The company also detected a fault on the Eagle Rock-Gould line, which also connects to the Gould substation.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Edison electric tower at center of Eaton fire investigation is dismantled and removed for testing
An idle Southern California Edison transmission tower was dismantled, removed and flown away via helicopter Wednesday so it could be tested to determine what, if any, role it played in igniting the devastating Eaton fire. The pylon overlooking Eaton Canyon has for months been the focus of investigators who are looking to determine what sparked the deadly fire on Jan. 7, after video captured the initial flames burning underneath the structure. Known as M16T1, or Tower 208, the structure has not been used by the utility company for more than 50 years, but Edison officials said it, and the idle line it carried, somehow became reenergized the day the fire began to burn. In a previous interview with The Times, Edison International Chief Executive Pedro Pizarro said the reenergization of the line, through a rare phenomenon known as induction, is now a leading theory into what sparked the inferno. On Wednesday, crews uninstalled the metal tower from a steep, now-charred hillside overlooking Eaton Canyon, where it has stood since 1971. A sky crane helicopter lifted and transported the tower in two large pieces. SCE had planned to remove the tower since last week, but rain and overcast skies forced crews, and the helicopter used to lift and carry the equipment off the hillside, to delay the work. The tower was dismantled and transported via truck to a warehouse in Irwindale, where it will be examined, photographed and tested in a laboratory setting to look for clues, said David Eisenhauer, spokesperson for Southern California Edison. In the warehouse, the tower will be tested and examined by fire investigators with Los Angeles County Fire, Southern California Edison officials and experts hired by a growing list of plaintiffs who have since sued the utility company for allegedly sparking the fire. "We're really looking for anything that will help in the investigation," Eisenhauer said. "It's a close-up examination where we look for any information." Three transmission towers sit near one another on the steep hillside, but only the idle tower was removed Wednesday. Read more: Edison to bury more than 150 miles of power lines in wake of devastating L.A. County firestorms Two weeks ago, SCE removed the idle power lines that connected to the tower and were part of the Mesa-Sylmar SCE line, which has also been idle for decades. Los Angeles County Fire officials are still investigating the fire's start and have not commented on a possible cause, but private investigators and Southern California Edison officials have focused their attention on the canyon transmission towers. The utility company has also disclosed to state regulators that it found unusual activity on its equipment at about the same time the fire was believed to have started. The idle transmission tower at the center of the Eaton fire investigation is carried away by helicopter on Wednesday. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) The company reported to state regulators that four lines, including the dormant Mesa-Sylmar line, saw a momentary increase of electrical current at about the same time the fire began. The incident occurred after the company detected a fault on its Eagle Rock-Gould line, which connects to the Gould substation in La Cañada Flintridge, roughly five circuit miles from the suspected ignition point of the fire. On Jan. 19, Edison crews also briefly reenergized the transmission lines over Eaton Canyon and "observed a small flash of white light upon each re-energization." The flashes occurred on equipment that carry the Mesa-Vincent and Goodrich-Gould active lines, Edison officials said in a letter to regulators. Flashes were also seen on the Mesa-Sylmar line, which was not connected to a substation. Some attorneys suing Edison have also alleged that the idle tower, 208, was improperly grounded and posed a risk, pointing to a grounding wire that appeared to have been exposed on the hillside. The grounding line is meant to be connected to the tower and buried deep in the ground, but photos submitted in court showed about 4 feet of the wire protruding from the steep hillside, under the tower. Read more: Secret changes Edison imposed after Eaton fire remain shrouded in mystery Just weeks after the fire ignited, SCE updated an internal manual, detailing how crews should ground idle transmission towers — like Tower 208 — from now on. SCE officials said it was the only change made to the large, detailed manual after the Jan. 7 fire. Edison at first declined to disclose what changes were made to the manual. A spokesperson said the changes were to clarify language in its grounding policy. A helicopter gets in position over an Altadena hillside to remove a transmission tower. The tower and the idle line it carried somehow became reenergized the day the Eaton fire started. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) The company later shared with The Times the changes made to its idle tower grounding policies, showing the new grounding instructions provided new specifications for equipment, including the type of grounding wire and number of bolts to be used, depending on the type of structure. The previous version of the manual did not provide that type of specificity. Rajdeep Roy, vice president of transmission operations for Edison, told The Times that, before the changes, engineers determined the grounding procedures on a case-by-case basis, taking equipment, terrain and surroundings into account. Edison officials said a second tower, which had also been connected to the Mesa-Sylmar line, was scheduled to be removed and taken to the Irwindale warehouse later this week, so it could also be inspected and tested. That tower, Eisenhauer said, was near the Gould substation, where the fault had been detected by the utility company. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
08-05-2025
- General
- Los Angeles Times
Edison electric tower at center of Eaton fire investigation is dismantled and removed for testing
An idle Southern California Edison transmission tower was dismantled, removed and flown away via helicopter Wednesday so it could be tested to determine what, if any, role it played in igniting the devastating Eaton fire. The pylon overlooking Eaton Canyon has for months been the focus of investigators who are looking to determine what sparked the deadly fire on Jan. 7, after video captured the initial flames burning underneath the structure. Known as M16T1, or Tower 208, the structure has not been used by the utility company for more than 50 years, but Edison officials said it, and the idle line it carried, somehow became reenergized the day the fire began to burn. In a previous interview with The Times, Edison International Chief Executive Pedro Pizarro said the reenergization of the line, through a rare phenomenon known as induction, is now a leading theory into what sparked the inferno. On Wednesday, crews uninstalled the metal tower from a steep, now-charred hillside overlooking Eaton Canyon, where it has stood since 1971. A sky crane helicopter lifted and transported the tower in two large pieces. SCE had planned to remove the tower since last week, but rain and overcast skies forced crews, and the helicopter used to lift and carry the equipment off the hillside, to delay the work. The tower was dismantled and transported via truck to a warehouse in Irwindale, where it will be examined, photographed and tested in a laboratory setting to look for clues, said David Eisenhauer, spokesperson for Southern California Edison. In the warehouse, the tower will be tested and examined by fire investigators with Los Angeles County Fire, Southern California Edison officials and experts hired by a growing list of plaintiffs who have since sued the utility company for allegedly sparking the fire. 'We're really looking for anything that will help in the investigation,' Eisenhauer said. 'It's a close-up examination where we look for any information.' Three transmission towers sit near one another on the steep hillside, but only the idle tower was removed Wednesday. Two weeks ago, SCE removed the idle power lines that connected to the tower and were part of the Mesa-Sylmar SCE line, which has also been idle for decades. Los Angeles County Fire officials are still investigating the fire's start and have not commented on a possible cause, but private investigators and Southern California Edison officials have focused their attention on the canyon transmission towers. The utility company has also disclosed to state regulators that it found unusual activity on its equipment at about the same time the fire was believed to have started. The idle transmission tower suspected of sparking the Eaton fire is carried away by helicopter on Wednesday. The company reported to state regulators that four lines, including the dormant Mesa-Sylmar line, saw a momentary increase of electrical current at about the same time the fire began. The incident occurred after the company detected a fault on its Eagle Rock-Gould line, which connects to the Gould substation in La Cañada Flintridge, roughly five circuit miles from the suspected ignition point of the fire. On Jan. 19, Edison crews also briefly reenergized the transmission lines over Eaton Canyon and 'observed a small flash of white light upon each re-energization.' The flashes occurred on equipment that carry the Mesa-Vincent and Goodrich-Gould active lines, Edison officials said in a letter to regulators. Flashes were also seen on the Mesa-Sylmar line, which was not connected to a substation. Some attorneys suing Edison have also alleged that the idle tower, 208, was improperly grounded and posed a risk, pointing to a grounding wire that appeared to have been exposed on the hillside. The grounding line is meant to be connected to the tower and buried deep in the ground, but photos submitted in court showed about 4 feet of the wire protruding from the steep hillside, under the tower. Just weeks after the fire ignited, SCE updated an internal manual, detailing how crews should ground idle transmission towers — like Tower 208 — from now on. SCE officials said it was the only change made to the large, detailed manual after the Jan. 7 fire. Edison at first declined to disclose what changes were made to the manual. A spokesperson said the changes were to clarify language in its grounding policy. A helicopter gets in position over an Altadena hillside to remove a transmission tower. The tower and the idle line it carried somehow became reenergized the day the Eaton fire started. The company later shared with The Times the changes made to its idle tower grounding policies, showing the new grounding instructions provided new specifications for equipment, including the type of grounding wire and number of bolts to be used, depending on the type of structure. The previous version of the manual did not provide that type of specificity. Rajdeep Roy, vice president of transmission operations for Edison, told The Times that, before the changes, engineers determined the grounding procedures on a case-by-case basis, taking equipment, terrain and surroundings into account. Edison officials said a second tower, which had also been connected to the Mesa-Sylmar line, was scheduled to be removed and taken to the Irwindale warehouse later this week, so it could also be inspected and tested. That tower, Eisenhauer said, was near the Gould substation, where the fault had been detected by the utility company.
