Home » Santa Clarita News » SCV Emergency » Fire » Los Angeles County Sues SoCal Edison For $100 Million In Woolsey Fire Damages
Photo Courtesy: CNN

Los Angeles County Sues SoCal Edison For $100 Million In Woolsey Fire Damages

Los Angeles County officials filed a lawsuit against Southern California Edison (SoCal Edison) and Edison International Thursday to recover costs and damages from the devastating Woolsey Fire, officials said.

The fire, which started Nov. 8, 2018, consumed more than 96,000 acres, destroyed 1,643 buildings, damaged another 360 structures, put hundreds of surviving homes at risk of mudslides and debris flow, and killed three people, according to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors in a statement.

“This legal action is an important and essential step toward accountability and recovery,” said Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, whose district includes most of the Woolsey Fire burn area. “Although I know it won’t bring people’s homes or businesses back, and won’t heal the trauma or grief my constituents are experiencing, or restore our charred hillsides, it’s very important to require entities to be held responsible.”

L.A. County is joined in the suit by the Los Angeles County Flood Control District and the Consolidated Fire Protection District for Los Angeles County.

The county incurred over $100 million in costs and damages from the Woolsey Fire, including fire suppression, emergency response and recovery efforts, infrastructure damages, injury to natural resources, loss of tax revenue and other significant losses, officials said.

More than a dozen County departments and thousands of County employees were involved in responding to the Woolsey Fire and ongoing recovery efforts.

While the officials cause of the Woolsey Fire remains under investigation by CalFIRE, SoCal Edison officials stated in their February 2019 federal Form 10-K investor filing that “it believes that its equipment could be found to have been associated with the ignition of the fire,” according to federal filings.

Two minutes before the fire started, SoCal Edison officials noted a disturbance on their equipment near where the fire began and reported it to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC).

SoCal Edison officials have acknowledged finding a pole support wire (guy wire) on the ground near an electrical wire (jumper) that was energized prior to the outage. The guy wire may have come into contact with the jumper, causing sparks which could have ignited the fire, according to County officials.

As of Thursday, no court date has been set for the lawsuit.


Sponsored Articles


Do you have a news tip? Call us at (661) 298-1220, or send an email to newstip@hometownstation.com. Don’t miss a thing. Get breaking KHTS Santa Clarita News Alerts delivered right to your inbox. Report a typo or error, email Corrections@hometownstation.com

KHTS FM 98.1 and AM 1220 is Santa Clarita’s only local radio station. KHTS mixes in a combination of news, traffic, sports, and features along with your favorite adult contemporary hits. Santa Clarita news and features are delivered throughout the day over our airwaves, on our website and through a variety of social media platforms. Our KHTS national award-winning daily news briefs are now read daily by 34,000+ residents. A vibrant member of the Santa Clarita community, the KHTS broadcast signal reaches all of the Santa Clarita Valley and parts of the high desert communities located in the Antelope Valley. The station streams its talk shows over the web, reaching a potentially worldwide audience. Follow @KHTSRadio on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

KHTS FM 98.1 & AM 1220 - Santa Clarita News - Santa Clarita Radio

Los Angeles County Sues SoCal Edison For $100 Million In Woolsey Fire Damages

2 comments

  1. So based on an assumption that it is possible a loose guy wire sparked the fire the county is suing the utility company. Utility companies are not permitted to go broke. So any judgement against them will only result in higher utility bills for all of us. And after the bill is paid it is unlikely the rates will come back down.
    This is a lose-lose situation for everyone. Except possibly SCE.

  2. Former Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill allowing the ratepayers assume risk and responsibility for fires that arise from equipment failure so the utility doesn’t go bankrupt. Read the inserts on your bills, soon will be a 2 tiered system-rates are going up regardless due to market demand, just not high enough for shareholders appetite.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About Devon Miller

Devon Miller was born and raised in Santa Clarita. He joined KHTS Radio as a digital marketing intern in September of 2017, and later moved to news as a staff writer in December. Miller attended College of the Canyons and served as the Associated Student Government President. Miller is now News Director for KHTS, covering breaking news and politics across the Santa Clarita Valley.