Investigators have concluded that the deadly 2025 Eaton fire in the Los Angeles area was caused by equipment belonging to Southern California Edison (SCE), according to a report released Tuesday by Los Angeles County fire officials.
The fire, which killed 19 people and destroyed or damaged more than 9,000 homes and businesses, was traced to an out-of-service tower, the report found.
Investigation Findings
“After 18 months of thorough review of all evidence, alongside retained electrical and metallurgical experts, the investigation concluded that the cause of the wildfire conflagration was due to the electrical arcing events that took place on the out-of-service Southern California Edison (SCE) tower,” the agency said in a statement.
The blaze took firefighters nearly a month to extinguish and scorched 22 square miles (57 sq km).
Kathleen Dunleavy, a spokesperson for SCE, said the utility has received the report and is reviewing it. “We have taken our potential role in the start of this fire seriously from the very beginning,” she said. SCE previously acknowledged it was likely its equipment was associated with the ignition.
Utility's Response and Legal Claims
Dunleavy said the utility continues to support the community as it recovers. In lawsuits earlier this year, SCE claimed that Los Angeles County agencies failed to send timely evacuation warnings to residents in east and west Altadena, where 18 of the 19 victims lived. The utility also alleged water agencies, including Pasadena Water and Power, did not provide enough water as the fire spread. Los Angeles County declined to comment on the latest filings.
The investigation, conducted jointly with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, found that electrical arcing on the out-of-service tower ignited dry brush below. It concluded that the utility was responsible for maintaining and operating its lines and equipment “in a manner that would minimize the risk of catastrophic wildfire posed by them.”
Fire Details
The fire was sparked during extreme weather conditions, including high temperatures, low humidity, and powerful winds. Two “electrical arcing events” occurred in quick succession, causing burning material to fall to the ground. Within 12 seconds, dry grass ignited, and the fire quickly grew into a conflagration that engulfed areas including the San Gabriel Mountains, Altadena, Pasadena, Sierra Madre, and La Cañada Flintridge. It took more than two weeks to fully contain.
The report cites a 911 call from a Pasadena resident on 7 January who spotted flames across the canyon, describing “a 10in x 10in fire at the base of a high-voltage electrical tower.”
The Eaton fire burned concurrently with the Palisades fire, the most destructive in Los Angeles history, which killed 12 people and destroyed over 6,800 structures. The man accused of sparking the Palisades fire, Jonathan Rinderknecht, will face a retrial this fall after his first federal arson case ended in a mistrial in June.
