CNN
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California utility company Southern California Edison on Thursday said its equipment “may be associated with” the ignition of the Hurst Fire, which burned alongside the Eaton and Palisades fires during January’s Los Angeles firestorms.
Thursday’s admission came amid a required filing with the state’s utility regulators.
Last month, Southern California Edison acknowledged fire agencies were investigating if its equipment may have started the Hurst Fire, which burned approximately 799 acres in Los Angeles County. The fire burned for eight days before being fully contained on January 16, but it did not destroy any structures or lead to any deaths, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire.
“Absent additional evidence, SCE believes its equipment may be associated with the ignition of the Hurst Fire,” Thursday’s filing said. SoCal Edison said it continues to cooperate with authorities as the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
CNN has reached out to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, LA Mayor Karen Bass, the Los Angeles Fire Department and the Los Angeles County Emergency Operations Center for comment on the company’s admission.
A second filing on Thursday addressed videos of the deadly Eaton Fire’s early stages, suggesting a possible link to SoCal’s equipment. The company said it is still working to determine potential causes of the ignition, including if its equipment could be related to the cause of the fire that destroyed over 9,000 structures.
“We have seen information like videos shared by external parties of the fire’s early stages. These are concerning and they may suggest a possible link to SCE’s equipment. We are taking this very seriously,” Pedro J. Pizarro, president and CEO of SoCal Edison’s parent company, Edison International, said in a video message Thursday.
The company said it had not identified “typical or obvious indications” that would support a link between the Eaton Fire and its transmission lines, citing a lack of “broken conductors, fresh arc marks in the preliminary origin area, or evidence of faults on the energized lines running through that area.”
The Eaton Fire, which killed at least 17 people and devastated Altadena, was fully contained last week. It burned over 14,000 acres, according to Cal Fire.
CNN’s Andy Rose contributed to this reporting.
Correction: A previous AP story misreported the utility company’s statement about its equipment and the origin of the Hurst Fire. The utility said that its equipment may have sparked the fire.
