Southern California Edison equipment caused the devastating Eaton Fire last year, according to a report Tuesday by the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
State and county fire investigators aided by electrical and metallurgical experts investigated the deadly blaze over 18 months and concluded that the cause of the wildfire was electrical arcing events that occurred on an out-of-service Southern California Edison power-line tower.
Investigators used methodology developed by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group and found that the Eaton Fire originated on a pile of uncleared dry brush below SCE transmission towers on the spur ridge above the Eaton Wash, according to the Fire Department.
California law requires SCE is to maintain and operate its electrical lines and equipment in a manner that would minimize the risk of catastrophic wildfire.
“I recognize that no report or investigation into the Eaton Fire can ease the deep pain and tragedy our residents have endured,” LA County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said in a statement. “While the cause has been determined, our focus remains on assisting our residents to rebuild their homes and livelihoods, and ensuring lessons learned drive meaningful and impactful change in memory of the 19 lives lost.”
Fire officials noted the Eaton Fire’s ongoing impact “and the community’s need for answers,” in addition to affirming a commitment “to transparency and fully support all independent investigations and after-action reviews.”
According to Cal Fire, the blaze caused 19 deaths and destroyed or damaged over 10,000 structures in Altadena, Pasadena, Sierra Madre and La Cañada Flintridge and the San Gabriel Mountains.
“Our hearts are with the Altadena community, and we continue to support them as they recover and rebuild through our Wildfire Recovery Compensation Program,” said SCE spokesman David Eisenhauer.
“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. As we’ve previously said, SCE believes that it is likely that its equipment was associated with the ignition of the Eaton Fire.”
The Fire Department report and additional information is on the county’s website, lacounty.gov/aar.
Loan program aims to aid rebuilding
A local nonprofit organization and Los Angeles-based bank have launched the first zero-interest disaster loan program to help Eaton Fire survivors return to Altadena.
The Gap Rebuild Program by the Altadena Land Initiatives Corp. fills funding gaps for fire-surviving homeowners with zero-interest construction financing from Cathay Bank. Program organizers said it simplifies construction by pairing homeowners with builders selected for their availability, experience, pricing, reputation and commitment to Altadena’s recovery.
More than 16 months after the Eaton Fire, 2 in 3 survivors remain displaced and almost 40% have run out of temporary housing insurance or expect that to happen imminently.
Altadena is our home. We founded ALI because homeowners deserve a clear, community-driven solution to rebuild and stay,” Altadena Land Initiatives Corp. co-founder Ursula Hyman said in a statement. “Preserving homeownership is essential to protecting the character and stability of our neighborhoods.”
For homeowners who want to rebuild, the gap between available insurance proceeds and the actual cost of rebuilding reaches 40%-50% of total rebuild costs, amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars that FEMA, insurance companies, SBA loans and other recovery resources have failed to close, ALI reported. The result is families must choose between high-interest debt, selling their homes or moving away from the community.
ALI’s “first-of-its-kind model” involves purchasing each loan the moment it is issued, serving as the financial engine behind each family’s rebuilding effort. In addition to the loan, ALI personnel works alongside each family through insurance reviews that help maximize the resources currently available to them.
People assume that if you have insurance, you can rebuild. That is just not the case for us or for many families we know,” homeowners and program participants Nate and Molly Perkins said jointly in a statement. “There is a staggering gap between what it costs to rebuild and what families have. ALI gave us a path forward with the confidence that we can rebuild our lives when we thought we had run out of options.”
Cathay Bank employees, attorneys, builders, people from nonprofits, disaster case managers and community members came together to establish the program infrastructure from scratch, much of it contributed pro bono, according to ALI. As homeowners receive financial settlements from Southern California Edison and repay their loans, that capital is recycled into new financing for the next family ready to rebuild.
“We believe community investment goes beyond traditional lending,” Cathay Bank President and CEO Chang Liu said in a statement. “It means taking the initiative to create something new when the situation demands it. We are proud to have developed the financing infrastructure that makes this program possible, and we stand with Altadena families as they rebuild their homes and their futures.”
According to ALI, the Altadena loan program is a blueprint with the potential to change how communities recover from disaster, with the aim of bringing families home faster and on terms that hold up over the long term.
More information is online at alirebuilds.org.
