(Bloomberg) — As attention turns to the causes of this week’s devastating Los Angeles wildfires, evidence has emerged that power lines close to where one of the deadliest conflagrations started weren’t shut off, despite warnings about high winds.
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Arcing and faulty electricity transmission lines have been connected to numerous fires in California in recent years. More than 100 people died in 2023 in a blaze on the Hawaiian island of Maui that was linked to electrical lines downed by high winds.
Utilities in California now routinely shut off power when wind speeds climb and conditions are very dry. Such measures were taken in parts of LA Tuesday just before the fires began.
But in the case of the Eaton Fire, which has so far burned more than 13,000 acres in northern LA, data provided by Whisker Labs indicate homes just west of Eaton Canyon, where the blaze began, still had power when flames first erupted at 6:18 p.m. Pacific time.
Whisker monitors electricity flows using residential plug-in devices. Its data show eight sensors several hundred feet west of Eaton Canyon had power at that point.
Edison International has said that the Eaton Fire began within the area it serves. It also said that its utility in the area, Southern California Edison, de-energized local distribution lines “immediately to the west of Eaton Canyon” before the blaze.
The Whisker data show neighborhoods further west — on the other side of Allen Avenue — experienced grid faults hours before the fire and lost power by about 3:35 p.m. By 4 p.m., homes east of the canyon also lost power.
It’s unclear why some homes still had power while surrounding neighborhoods went dark. Whisker’s data can’t distinguish between public power shutoffs and other grid issues.
Late Thursday, the Edison utility disclosed that it was asked by attorneys representing insurance companies to preserve evidence in connection with the Eaton Fire.
“We will review all information made available to us as part of our investigation,” said David Eisenhauer, a spokesman for Southern California Edison.
–With assistance from Mark Chediak.
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