SoCal Edison Under Scrutiny For Possible Cause Of Wildfires
LONG BEACH (CBSLA) — SoCal Edison has admitted they are under investigation for possibly being the cause of one or more wildfires around Southern California that broke out last week.
Investigators say the utility company had equipment near where one of the fires started and are not ruling it out as a cause. The Thomas Fire near Santa Barbara is in its second week and still only 25 percent contained. Cal Fire and other agencies are not yet giving details into the probe.
Socal Edison released this statement:
The causes of the wildfires are being investigated by Cal Fire, other fire agencies and the California Public Utilities Commission...SCE believes the investigation now includes the possible role of its facilities.
A Socal Edison spokesperson would not say which fires they are under scrutiny for but said it's more than one.
Investigators will go over 911 calls and backtrack to where the fires started, not an easy task a consultant said.
"They're acknowledging their equipment is in those areas, but they're not acknowledging they started those fires," Robert Rowe, a fire consultant and investigator said. "It's a long process and they have to look at a lot of things."
Last week's Skirball Fire was started by people illegally cooking at a homeless encampment, then exacerbated by strong winds.
California has a history wildfires started by winds pushing trees into power lines. In 2007, SoCal Edison was fined for the Malibu fires. In Northern California, PG&E is being investigated for the possible cause of recent fires.
