Power lines near the Eaton and Palisades fires in the Los Angeles area were energized when the fires broke out Tuesday, but energy experts say electrical equipment often catches fire during periods of high winds in California and elsewhere. He said he was concerned.
The cause of the wildfires that ravaged Southern California is unclear, and it will likely take months before investigators can reach a firm conclusion. But energy industry experts say the fact that utility power lines remained operational during unusually dry and extremely windy conditions raises the possibility that they played at least some role in the fire's spread. He said it was suggested.
Power lines and other utility equipment have been identified as the cause of several large fires in recent years, including the 2018 Camp Fire, California's deadliest fire, which killed 85 people and destroyed the Paradise area. The town was destroyed. Other fires involving electrical equipment include a fire on the Hawaiian island of Maui in 2023 and a fire near the Oregon coast in 2020.
One of the most worrying details that has come to light since the fires began is that the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the largest municipality in the country, has no program in place to proactively shut off power to urban areas in the event of a fire. It is. Increased risk. California's investor-owned electric utilities have had such programs in place for years.
The city's power company, which provides power to the Pacific Palisades enclave where most homes have been destroyed, is not using a remote power-off system to cut off power to customers, electrician Robert said. An analysis of the department's fire prevention plans by McCullough, a Portland, Oregon-based utility consultant, said the utilities' plans were “woefully inadequate.”
“The LADWP document is primarily for public relations purposes, and there are few advances in wildfire prevention and response seen across the industry,” McCullough said.
The city's water and power department said it did not preemptively shut off the system during strong winds because it could affect government offices and other essential services. However, the utility prevents the circuit from automatically repowering after a power outage or interruption during high winds. In these cases, utility crews inspect the area to ensure it is safe and then manually restore power.
McCullough also noted that the utility's power grid is designed to withstand wind speeds of up to 56 miles per hour, which he said is “pretty low in today's climate.” He said utilities are updating equipment that can withstand speeds of 130 mph, but during this week's storms, “data strongly suggests that older poles and wires were failing at speeds below 80 mph.” That's what it means. Santa Ana winds that hit Los Angeles this week reached about 160 mph
In response to questions about its response, the Bureau of Water and Power acknowledged that despite the wind speeds, there were no power outages in the city ahead of the fire. The utility said it developed a strategy with the city's fire department to meet the needs of the city of Los Angeles.
“Los Angeles is different. There are fewer power lines in areas with high population densities and the highest fire risk,” the utility said in a written statement Friday. “The impact on hospitals, dialysis and care centres, as well as critical city services such as emergency response, firefighting, traffic and street lighting response, as well as vulnerable people at home, will be far-reaching. There is a risk of power outage.”
City officials said they are reviewing the system's ability to handle higher wind speeds. The utility added that it replaced 704 utility poles in high fire risk areas from 2022 to 2023.
It's not unusual for Los Angeles' municipal power companies to be reluctant to shut off power as a fire prevention measure. Other major California utilities have implemented more detailed wildfire prevention programs, such as Southern California Edison, which operates equipment in the area of the Eaton and Hearst fires. But they are also reluctant to shut off power to prevent wildfires, viewing the measure as a last resort.
As many as 500,000 Edison customers were facing power outages at various times this week, but fewer than half had their power intentionally cut off at any one time.
The Palisades, Hearst, and Eaton fires started at the beginning of the Palisades, Hearst, and Eaton fires, according to data released Friday by Whisker Labs, a Maryland technology company that manages sensors that can detect unusual activity on power lines to predict and prevent electrical fires. Nearby utility equipment was shown to remain energized by the wind as it raced through the Los Angeles area.
In the case of the Eaton Fire, low-voltage power lines supplying power to homes with Altadena addresses and high-voltage power lines west of where the fire started remained on before and during the fire. said the director of the Whisker Institute. Executive Bob Marshall said.
Edison spokesman David Eisenhauer said the Whisker Lab findings, evaluated by the utility, “were not helpful or accurate in determining the cause or origin of potential problems.” The company criticized the company for trying to sell a product it judged to be. For example, Eisenhauer said an increase in unusual activity on the power grid is likely related to the effects of wind speed in the area, rather than a specific problem.
“Misleading the public by speculating about the cause of the devastating fires that are still raging in Southern California is highly inappropriate and unhelpful to our communities and our customers,” Eisenhauer said. said. “We need to focus on the facts and support the safety of our neighbors.”
Southern California Edison, which operates electric utilities in the area where the Eaton Fire is believed to have started, said it had cut off power to customers east of the ignition point under its wildfire prevention program, but He did not say whether it was electric or low-power. High-voltage lines to the west were cut off.
In an incident report filed by Edison Thursday evening, the utility said it had received a notice to preserve evidence from an attorney representing an insurance company in connection with the Eaton fire. However, the power company added, “To date, no fire service agency has suggested that SCE's electrical equipment was involved in the fire or requested that SCE's equipment be removed and stored.”
With damages from the Los Angeles fires estimated in the tens of billions of dollars, the potential liability facing the two power companies could be enormous. The Palisades Fire was the deadliest fire in Los Angeles history.
“The system that was built was not designed to anticipate this,” said Martin L. Adams, a former general manager who worked for a Los Angeles utility company for 40 years. “It’s a different world here because things we thought would never happen are actually happening.”
Mikal C. Watts, an Austin, Texas, attorney who represents wildfire victims in California and Hawaii, said he has received information and images suggesting utility equipment was the cause of the fires. He said there was. Watts said he has been receiving a steady stream of calls from wildfire victims, including dozens of his friends, asking for representation in lawsuits stemming from the wildfires.
Watts said he was investigating broken utility poles and downed power lines along the Temescal Ridge Trail during the Palisades Fire. He said he believes neither the City Water and Power Department nor Edison took steps to prevent the fire, given the storm forecast.
“There was a clear warning that this was going to happen,” Watts said.
