The cash-strapped Pasadena Unified School District is suing Southern California Edison seeking compensation for damages to multiple buildings burning in the Eaton fire and the subsequent disruptions in operation.
The district sued Edison International, a Rosemead-based utility in Los Angeles County Superior Court last week, which fell into a $37 million budget deficit before the Jan. 7 fire, a district accusing them of negligence and other causes of litigation.
Although the cause of the fire remains open, investigators have been focusing on the Edison power line in Eaton Canyon, which may have triggered hell, killing 17 people and destroying more than 10,000 homes and other buildings in Altadena.
“The destruction of multiple schools and educational facilities has put a huge burden on students, families and the education community as a whole,” John Fiske, an attorney representing the area, said in a statement. “This lawsuit seeks fair compensation to recover taxpayer resources and regional property lost due to this devastating fire.”
Southern California Edison has faced numerous lawsuits seeking damages due to the Eaton fire, and insurance companies are expected to pay billions of dollars in compensation for their potential claims to homeowners and businesses.
“The Eaton Fire is heartbreaking to the Altadena community. We are reviewing this lawsuit and will respond through legal processes,” said Diane Castro, a spokesman for the utility.
The March 19 lawsuit details the widespread damages suffered by multiple facilities, including Franklin Elementary School, Elliot Art Magnet Middle School, Edison Campus Housing Odyssey Charter School, Loma Alta Campus Housing Pasadena Rose Book College and Oak Knoll Montestorsori School and Noyes Campus Campus Campus Aveson Aveson Aveson Aveson aveson aveson overs of Decies.
It also seeks to compensate for debris, soot and ash removal; environmental testing; staff and labor costs; fire-related crisis responses and mental health services to regional students; fees that the region has been subject to since the fire.
The loss on campus is a years of decline in enrollment rates, prompting the district board of directors to approve layoffs last month, which will result in about 150 jobs, including 120 certified positions, including 120 for teachers.
The area was home to about 21,000 students in 2005, but now it has less than 14,000, which has led to the closure of five campuses since 2018. The decline is attributed to the lack of affordable housing in the wealthy community and is available for multiple charter and private school options.
The lawsuit says the utility failed to temporarily close the power lines in Eaton Canyon, despite the National Weather Service having a lot of strong storm warnings amid the large amount of dry vegetation near its power lines. It includes photographic evidence to support its allegations that the fire “arced in a strong wind” under the power line.
The lawsuit alleges that the utility later filed a report with the California Public Utilities Commission that showed that four power lines in the canyon increased through four power lines when the fire began.
The Times investigation found that Edison knew its possible ignition point and some of its nearby towers were fire hazards. Although evidence is still being collected, the company showed the state that the records submitted by the tower were considered potential “ignition risk” on three lines were for maintenance.
The utility has 94 open work orders along three lines, some passing through the northern edge of Altadena and passing through Eaton Canyon as of December 31, according to Edison data reviewed by the Times. These include two work orders for “weed” and “structure brushing” that are marked “ignition risk.”
“The reason is still under investigation as part of our ongoing commitment to a thoroughly transparent investigation,” Edison said last week. “South California Edison begins the next phase of inspection and testing of Eaton Canyon electrical equipment.”
In January, the California Utilities Commission voted to allow the utility to raise electricity prices to pay for the payment it paid to victims of the devastating 2017 Thomas Wildfire in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, aka the debris flow that killed 23 people.
The vote will allow Edison to charge its clients more than $1.6 billion in paying more than $2.7 billion to more than 5,000 fire victims. The company said Edison plans to allocate costs to 30 years, with most customers increasing monthly bills by $1.
The company also asked the commission to approve a second increased tax rate of $5.4 billion in payments for victims of the Wolsey fire in Los Angeles and Ventura County in 2018, which destroyed more than 1,600 buildings and killed three people. An investigation determined that the Edison equipment caused a fire.
Some estimates have brought the insurance losses of Eaton Fire to $10 billion, but experts say the Bureau of Statistics could be higher eventually, with the losses that would further increase the total in addition to the losses covered by insurance.
However, even if Edison is found to be at fault, the impact on the payer may be reduced. The Legislature in 2019 passed a law that created a $21 billion fund to help pay for wildfire losses caused by utilities.
The fund was formed after a series of wildfires in 2017 and 2018 after Pacific Gas and Electrical Companies filed for bankruptcy, including destroying the paradise community in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains and killing more than 80 people.
In order to qualify for this money, utilities must take prudent actions to prevent fires. Even if it finds to do so, the company will still have to pay the first $1 billion claim before it can get state funds.
Edison International CEO Pedro Pizarro told Wall Street analysts in January that if the utility’s transmission equipment is found to be “related to the ignition of the Eaton Fire,” he believes the utility can demonstrate that “its behavior in terms of transmission facilities in the Eaton Canyon area is consistent with the actions of reasonable utilities.”
