In January, the Eaton fire destroyed more than 9,000 buildings and led to 19 deaths in Los Angeles County. Estimates predict the fire caused billions of dollars in damages.
The U.S. Department of Justice and groups of victims have filed more than 40 lawsuits against Southern California Edison, the utility that powers the area. Some of those suits cite evidence that shows sparks and fire were seen shortly after 6 p.m. on high power transmission lines near Eaton Canyon. SoCal Edison has said that its equipment could have been associated with that ignition.
But Altadena was one of the neighborhoods most ravaged by the fire, and it's located miles away from Eaton Canyon. Altadena residents have long wondered whether something else might have started fires earlier in their neighborhood.
An NPR investigation reveals that high power transmission lines were not the only kind of electrical equipment that caused problems for the neighborhood. Distribution lines that power individual homes also malfunctioned in Altadena as early as 11 a.m., NPR found, and firefighters were repeatedly called throughout the morning and afternoon to respond to problems related to power lines in the community. Although SoCal Edison can prevent electrical fires by shutting off the power that flows through the lines, the utility did not turn the power off to most circuits that power Altadena.
Here are five findings from NPR's investigation.
Distribution lines in Altadena malfunctioned before a fire started on transmission lines near Eaton Canyon.
Malfunctions, or "faults," on the distribution lines can happen when falling tree limbs or poles touch the lines, said Bob Marshall, the CEO of Whisker Labs, a private company that tracks electrical malfunctions to warn people about house fires. Electricity jumping into the air in the form of a spark or arc at points of contact can melt metal parts of the electrical infrastructure that can fall to the ground and ignite wildfires.
Whisker Labs shared its data with NPR. The data shows that distribution lines malfunctioned three times in Altadena—once at 11 a.m., again at 6:42 p.m. and finally at around 9:38 p.m.
Satellite imagery appears to show the fire front didn't cross into the western part of the neighborhood until after 5 a.m. the next day, a report released by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors suggested.
But those distribution malfunctions could have led to fire.
"All of those events when we see sharp voltage drops, it's something that's going wrong on the grid," Marshall said. "Most of them likely have an arc or a spark associated with them and they could start a fire."
Much of the discussion about how fires started in Altadena has focused on abnormalities on high power transmission lines located miles away from Altadena. NPR's reporting shows that on Jan. 7, there were multiple malfunctions on distribution lines inside the neighborhood, too.
One fire in Altadena started hours before the Eaton fire was supposed to have begun – and was linked to distribution line problems.
Just before 4:20 p.m., Tom Ware said he noticed electrical issues at his home on Catherine Road, in West Altadena. The lights flickered on and off, he said, and his neighbors recalled hearing the lines sparking outside. Ware ran outside to see what the problem was and found that his tenant who lives in an adjacent unit was already calling 911.
"Our meters shorted, sprayed sparks down onto the ground and started a ground fire on the other side of the fence just beyond my yard," Ware said. "So I grabbed the hose, a couple of hoses, one for me, one for my tenant. And we started to battle that from our side of the fence."
Firefighters were called because of wires down, firefighter dispatch communications indicate, and first responders soon arrived to help put that fire out. But hours later, after the family had evacuated, the unit caught fire again. Everything inside was destroyed.
"It's just a big trash heap, really," said Ware's wife, Lea Chazin. "The whole second floor has fallen through. The roof is gone, the staircase is gone. It's just a big pile."
Firefighters were dispatched to Altadena at least 35 times on Jan. 7 because of electrical problems.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department shared dispatch information with NPR that shows firefighters were frequently sent out to respond to electrical issues on Jan. 7. Firefighters were dispatched at least 35 times on Jan. 7 because of problems with wires down or arcing. Most of those dispatches — 30 of them — were made before 6 p.m., around when sparks were seen on transmission lines miles away in Eaton Canyon.
When asked about those findings, a representative from SoCal Edison said that the investigation into the Eaton fire is ongoing and the company looks forward to the final report from authorities.
SoCal Edison didn't turn power off to most circuits in Altadena, leaving homes potentially vulnerable to electrical fires.
Utility companies can prevent electrical fires by turning power off. Without current running through power lines, there's no voltage to drop and spark a fire.
Just after 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 7, SoCal Edison shut power off to two circuits in Altadena, the company's records show. Two more circuits were turned off by 9:46 p.m., according to the LA County report. But there are 12 circuits that power the community. SoCal Edison did not shut the remaining eight off at any time before, during or after the Eaton fire was spreading in January, records indicate.
SoCal Edison's vice president of Distribution Operations, Raj Roy, said the utility company carefully examines weather conditions to make complex decisions about cutting power and that SoCal Edison believes it executed its power offs appropriately during the fire.
"We don't take that decision lightly, it impacts customers. And so we only de-energize when we feel there is warranted fire risk," said Roy.
But some residents in Altadena whose homes were destroyed feel the utility company should have done more to protect them.
"You keep telling us that what happened was just unprecedented and that there was nothing they could do," said Marisol Espino, an Altadena resident whose house and family truck were incinerated. "But the majority of us are just not buying it."
Malfunctions on distribution lines occurred across LA, not just in Altadena.
Throughout the day on Jan. 7, wind speeds in LA were increasing to hurricane strengths and swirling across different neighborhoods. As the winds intensified, power lines across the city started to fault.
Transmission lines like the ones that are thought to be linked to the start of the Eaton fire faulted more than 50 times in the LA region and distribution lines faulted more than 200 times, according to estimates from Whisker Labs.
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"The more we look at the data, the clearer it becomes that the grid was just struggling to keep up with the wind," said Marshall. "And the frequency and the intensity of the faults increased throughout the day."
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