Justice Dept. Accuses California Utility of Negligence in Deadly Eaton Fire
Posted on: Sep 05, 2025 00:34 IST | Posted by: Nytimes
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Federal prosecutors say the January blaze that swept through Altadena, as well as another fire in 2022, were sparked by faulty equipment.
Reporting from Los Angeles
Federal prosecutors on Thursday blamed Southern California Edison, one of the state’s major utilities, for causing two wildfires, including the deadly January blaze that all but wiped out the community of Altadena near Los Angeles.
The Justice Department accused the utility of failing to properly maintain power lines that sparked the Eaton fire in the Angeles National Forest. The fire burned thousands of homes and killed 19 people during a devastating week in which another fire killed 12 in the Pacific Palisades.
The accusation of negligence against the utility came in a pair of lawsuits that also blamed Southern California Edison for the 2022 Fairview fire, which killed two people as it burned through almost 14,000 acres in the San Bernardino National Forest east of Los Angeles.
Bill Essayli, the acting U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles, said the lawsuits detail “a troubling pattern of negligence resulting in death, destruction and tens of millions of federal taxpayer dollars spent to clean up one utility company’s mistakes.”
Mr. Essayli’s office is seeking almost $80 million in damages for the Eaton and Fairview fires, much of which would be used to repay the United States Forest Service for firefighting costs and “rehabilitation of burned areas,” according to a news release. It wasn’t immediately clear if any damages would go to fire victims.
A Southern California Edison spokeswoman, Gabriela Ornelas, said that the utility would respond to the lawsuits “through appropriate legal channels.” She said the utility was also continuing its own wildfire mitigation efforts.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Jill Cowan is a Times reporter based in Los Angeles, covering the forces shaping life in Southern California and throughout the state.
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