The same group of transmission towers high on the chaparral-covered slope, lit by flames, were seen on film by residents of Los Angeles County’s Eaton Canyon foothills as the first flashes of fire and billows of smoke caught their attention.
The exact cause of the Eaton Fire, which began in that region on the evening of January 7, is still being investigated more than a week after California fire officials identified it. This has led to conjecture over whether a high-voltage transmission tower was the cause of the catastrophic wildfire.
“I still see the fire investigators right now, crawling up there around the poles,” remembers 28-year-old Brendan Thorn, who stayed behind at his Pasadena house as his family evacuated after seeing flames at the foot of the tower.
At least three lawsuits have been filed so far on behalf of residents of the devastated neighborhoods of Altadena and Pasadena, accusing Southern California Edison of neglecting to de-energize all of its power equipment and remove the thick undergrowth along the steep canyon that could catch fire.
The CEO of Southern California Edison’s parent company stated in interviews this week that although residential power distribution lines were de-energized approximately two hours prior to the Eaton Fire, transmission lines in Eaton Canyon were left in place because those towers are more robust and can withstand higher winds. That night, gusts in the area were close to 100 mph.
“As we do our telemetry, our monitoring of the system, we do not see any electrical anomalies,” Pedro Pizarros, CEO of Edison International, stated on CNBC regarding the company’s analysis of the transmission lines’ responses prior to and during the start of the fire. “It’s pretty typical you see that when you have a spark coming from equipment.”
Workers “have not been able to get close to those towers,” he continued, adding that “there may be some other mechanism here.”
Transmission lines in wildfires
According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, an investigation into the cause of the canyon fire is still in its early phases. According to fire officials on Wednesday, the Eaton Fire, one of several large fires raging in the Los Angeles area and causing immense havoc due to Santa Ana winds, has burnt through over 14,110 acres and is roughly 45% contained. It has resulted in the deaths of at least 16 people.
Although the vast majority of wildfires are caused by humans, according to federal data, utilities’ transmission wires may have been the initial source of the current Palisades Fire.
State authorities found that Pacific Gas & Electric owned and operated the electrical transmission lines that caused the 2018 Camp Fire in the town of Paradise in Northern California, which claimed dozens of lives.
According to authorities, a PG&E transmission line also started the Kincade Fire the following year, which led to the worst evacuation in Sonoma County’s history.
The utility agreed to pay millions of dollars as part of a settlement to avoid criminal prosecution in the Kincade Fire and struck an initial settlement with victims of the Camp Fire of $13.5 billion.
“The investigation into the Eaton Fire will depend on what is known about the high-voltage transmission tower in the area where the video and photo evidence appears to show the flames strengthened,” said Michael Wara, director of Stanford University’s Climate and Energy Policy Program.
“Edison has probably climbed that tower, inspected it, but we don’t know yet if there was a problem with it,” Wara stated. “How old was the power line?”
Instead of looking for evidence that would point to a human cause, like an accelerant, investigators attempting to determine whether a power line was the cause will consider whether the line itself was energized, its condition, and debris in the area, according to Stephanie Chase, a research and communications manager at the Energy and Policy Institute, a utility watchdog group.
Lower-voltage distribution poles, which are used to supply power to residences and commercial buildings, are significantly shorter than transmission towers, which are used to transport electricity over great distances. They are more likely to encounter tree limbs and other plants during weather events, and they are also more readily de-energized.
The choice to turn off the transmission towers in order to perhaps avoid a wildfire involves careful consideration and planning because of their size, which allows them to endure weather conditions, according to Wara.
The backbone of a bigger distribution system includes the four transmission lines in the vicinity of the Eaton Fire’s alleged origin.
“You can’t isolate this decision to this one line,” Wara stated. “There were four lines in this corridor, and it’s part of a system of lines coming over the mountains from the Central Valley.”
The entire system would be affected if any transmission lines in the area were de-energized, which could put millions of people in the dark and cause “a disaster in and of itself,” Wara continued.
He stated that since many transmission lines may be weather-worn and “fatigued in ways you can’t see in a visible inspection,” a more comprehensive debate about how to update them is necessary.
Southern California Edison will keep checking its transmission lines for problems with splices, which are used to repair lines; if the splices are not functioning properly, a line may fall, according to a report released in October by the California Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety, an organization tasked with lowering the risk of wildfires related to utilities. The utility stated on Tuesday that it is employing X-ray equipment to examine splices, which “complements visual inspections with a method that can detect conditions the naked eye cannot.”
The previous year, it stated, it “spent more than $1.8 billion mitigating wildfire risks, including inspecting and upgrading transmission and distribution infrastructure more frequently than required by state regulators.”
’34 minutes of terror’
Residents in Thorn are currently left to think about what may have been done to stop this inferno, such cutting off the transmission cables or sufficiently removing vegetation.
We have to live with the risks, don’t we? “Said Thorn.”
Built in the middle of the 1950s, his family’s home and the other homes in his neighborhood survived, but the houses two blocks beyond were destroyed by fire.
Pedro Rojas, 70, of Pasadena, captured footage of a smaller fire that was illuminating the hillside in an orange hue less than a quarter of a mile distant.
According to Rojas, a retired writer, a neighbor knocked on his door on January 7 to warn him about the fire as he was watching a basketball game on TV. About three minutes after the initial reports started coming in, at 6:21 p.m., he went to a window in his kitchen and took pictures of the situation.
Firefighters received the following information during a dispatch call: We have a brush fire across a canyon, behind high-tension power lines, that is around 10 acres in size.
Four fire trucks and two sheriff’s cruisers came at their cul-de-sac, and Rojas and his wife packed up their stuff in twenty minutes, he claimed. Later on, he would find out that his house had survived.
Rojas remarked, “I never thought that small fire we saw at that tower would be so devastating.”
According to Jeffrey Ku, 50, of Altadena, the Ring camera at his residence, which is just a few blocks from Rojas, started filming at approximately 6:19 p.m. Around that time, his wife Cheryll had come home and was driving on the neighboring expressway when she caught a sight of the fire.
He said that 34 minutes of dread were documented on camera.
The transmission cables were covered in smoke and flames at 6:28 p.m.
Despite the severe winds raining down embers, the couple safely left after packing up their two chihuahuas, Bellamy and Beckham. According to Jeffrey Ku, finding out that their house was spared was a relief after a terrible ordeal.
“I know we will emerge stronger from this long road to recovery,” he continued, “but it won’t be without the support of those here and those watching from a distance.”