Latest news with #EdDiab
CBS News
23-03-2025
- CBS News
Pasadena Unified School District sues SoCal Edison over Eaton Fire
The Pasadena Unified School District joined the list of public institutions suing SoCal Edison, seeking to have the utility company pay for the campuses damaged during the Eaton Fire. With help from "life-threatening" 100 mph wind gusts, the wildfire quickly spread through neighborhoods in Altadena, Pasadena, and Sierra Madre. In a matter of days, the Eaton Fire became the second most destructive fire in California history after it destroyed 9,418 buildings and damaged roughly 1,000 more, including six PUSD schools: "The destruction of multiple schools and educational facilities has created an immense burden on students, families, and the entire educational community," said John Fiske, a shareholder at Baron & Budd P.C., outside counsel representing the District. "This lawsuit seeks fair compensation to recover the taxpayer resources and district property lost as a result of this devastating fire." The district claims that the wildfire started near a SoCal Edison transmission tower, similar to the lawsuit Baron & Budd P.C. and Diab Chambers LLP filed on March 5 on behalf of Los Angeles County, the city of Pasadena, and the city of Sierra Madre. "The lawsuit seeks to address the devastating impacts this fire has had on the District's educational infrastructure and the significant losses sustained in the wake of the Eaton Fire," said Ed Diab, a founding partner of Diab Chambers LLP, who is also representing the District in this matter. In the earlier lawsuit, LA County alleges that SoCal Edison's electrical equipment came into contact with highly flammable vegetation, and the utility had allegedly "negligently failed to maintain vegetation within prescribed California regulations and law" as the state has regulations on how this terrain must be cleared when within a certain distance of power lines and electrical equipment. "Our hearts are with the communities affected by the wildfires in Southern California. We are reviewing the lawsuits that were recently filed and will address them through the appropriate legal process," SoCal Edison said in a statement following the initial lawsuit.
Reuters
05-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Los Angeles County, Pasadena, sue Southern California Edison over wildfires
March 5 (Reuters) - The County of Los Angeles and City of Pasadena, along with other public entities, filed lawsuits against Edison International and its subsidiary Southern California Edison (SCE) on Wednesday, alleging their role in igniting one of California's worst wildfires. The Eaton fire, one of the major fires that began in early January in the foothills east of Los Angeles, scorched more than 14,000 acres, nearly the size of Manhattan, and led to dozens of deaths. Authorities have yet to release an official cause for the major fires, including the Eaton blaze. The County of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Flood Control District, the Consolidated Fire Protection District of Los Angeles County, the City of Pasadena and the City of Sierra Madre filed lawsuits seeking compensation for damages to public resources and infrastructure caused by fire. "The lawsuits seek to hold Southern California Edison responsible for this devastating fire and recover the critical infrastructure and taxpayer resources that the fire destroyed," said Ed Diab, a founding partner of Diab Chambers representing the public entities, in a statement. The lawsuits, like others faced by the utility, cite eyewitness accounts and images that show a fire at the base of a transmission tower owned by SCE prior to the rapid spread of the flames by powerful wind gusts. Edison International did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Shares of the company have fallen nearly 30% since the onset of the fires. The lawsuits state that while the extent of damages and losses from the Eaton Fire and its aftermath are still being assessed, they are expected to be at least hundreds of millions of dollars. In its fourth-quarter earnings release, Edison International said it had not yet concluded whether its equipment was associated with the Eaton fire.
