Los Angeles, United States
One of the deadly 2025 fires that ravaged Los Angeles was caused when sparks from an idle transmission tower owned by a local power company ignited dry vegetation, fire officials said in a report released on Tuesday.
The report, released after an 18-month investigation, confirms suspicions that utility Southern California Edison (SCE) was responsible for the Eaton Fire that killed 19 people and damaged thousands of homes and other buildings in January 2025.
After consulting with metallurgical and electrical experts, the Los Angeles County Fire Department concluded in the report that the fire “was caused by an electrical incident on a decommissioned Southern California Edison transmission tower.”
This line had been out of service for decades but could still receive power and was located near high-voltage lines.
On the night of the fire, “electrical arcs ejected incandescent metal particles that fell onto flammable patches of dry vegetation at the base of the towers,” the report continued.
SCE had already acknowledged its responsibility. Last fall, it launched a compensation fund for fire victims to avoid lengthy and costly legal proceedings.
To date, the company has paid out more than $375 million to victims through this fund, said SCE spokesperson David Eisenhauer.
“Our hearts are with the Altadena community, and we continue to support them as they recover and rebuild through our Wildfire Recovery Compensation Program,” he told AFP.
“We received the LA County Fire report and are reviewing it. We have taken our potential role in the start of this fire seriously from the beginning,” Eisenhauer said.
In California, where climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of heat waves and storms, SCE’s power lines have been implicated in several fires in recent years.
The company’s equipment likely contributed to the 2018 Woolsey Fire, which killed three people and ravaged the mountains behind Malibu, according to the findings of the fire investigation.
In May 2025, the electricity supplier also agreed to pay $82.5 million to settle lawsuits related to the Bobcat Fire, which burned more than 46,000 hectares in the San Gabriel Mountains in 2020.
