LA municipal utility says no evidence energized power line caused fire

By Laila Kearney

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) above-ground power line near the Pacific Palisades was energized when the Palisades Fire began early this year, but that there is no evidence that the line contributed to the blaze, the municipal utility said on Tuesday.

The transmission line near the hills where the deadly inferno began on Jan. 7 has come under scrutiny more than two months after the blaze began in what is expected to be recorded as one of the most destructive natural disasters in U.S. history.

A new complaint against the utility, filed on Wednesday, accused the LADWP electrical system of sparking spot fires that fed into the Palisades Fire. Those fires began at around 10:30 p.m., about 12 hours after the blaze first erupted, the complaint said.

LADWP said that it manually shut the line at 2:30 p.m., after the initial fire began, but before the alleged spot fires.

Investigations are ongoing into the initial start of the Palisades Fire.

LADWP said investigations, including by lead investigators with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF,) so far have not indicated that its equipment was linked to the cause of the inferno.

“Neither the ATF nor any other investigating authority has indicated that LADWP facilities were involved in the ignition of the Palisades Fire,” LADWP spokesperson Ellen Cheng said. “The ATF examined LADWP’s overhead facilities in the area and did not ask LADWP to preserve any of them.”

The municipal utility is also facing lawsuits tied to the management of its water supplies during the Palisades Fire fight.

The Los Angeles fires began on Jan. 7, with the Palisades and Eaton Fire to the east, evolving into the largest of a more than a half-dozen blazes that began within hours of one another.

Southern California Edison, which is the largest investor-owned utility in the southern part of the state, is being sued on claims that its power equipment started the Eaton blaze.

(Reporting by Laila Kearney; Editing by Sandra Maler)