Video of sparks points to Eaton Fire’s origins, lawsuit says
“This is the clearest and most damning evidence yet — real-time video from a gas station security camera showing Southern California Edison’s power lines igniting the fire,” Jay Edelson, founder of Edelson PC, the law firm involved, said in a news release.
A drone view shows neighborhood blocks destroyed by the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California, U.S. January 19, 2025. (Photo Credit: David Swanson/Reuters via CNN Newsource)
(CNN) — Video from a gas station security camera shows what a new filing in a lawsuit alleges is the start of this month’s deadly Eaton Fire in the Los Angeles area – electrical sparking at a utility transmission tower in the hilly Eaton Canyon area near the Altadena community.
The video was released Sunday by a law firm representing a woman whose house was destroyed by the fire and is suing Southern California Edison, the primary electrical utility for Los Angeles. The suit alleges SCE equipment caused the Eaton Fire, which has killed 17 people, injured nine firefighters, and damaged or destroyed 10,491 structures – making it the second-most destructive and fifth-most deadly wildfire in the state’s history – since it began January 7.
The video also is mentioned in a court filing from the firm Monday, asking a court to order SCE to preserve certain physical evidence the plaintiff alleges may show the cause of the sparking.
The cause of the Eaton Fire remains under investigation by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and no official cause has been determined.
SCE had said January 12 an analysis of four energized lines in the Eaton Canyon area showed “no interruptions or operational/electrical anomalies in the 12 hours prior to the fire’s reported start time until more than one hour after the reported start time of the fire.”
But the video obtained by law firm Edelson PC shows what the firm believes was the start of the fire. The video from the gas station camera, which CNN verified is located at 1633 North Altadena Drive in Pasadena and points in the direction of the fire, shows what appear to be electrical sparks on power lines on the evening of January 7.
“This investigation has unearthed video evidence of SCE’s equipment in Eaton Canyon arcing and sparking, followed by an eruption of flames, all at 6:11pm on January 7, 2025 - the precise moment the Eaton Fire began,” the law firm claimed in Monday’s court filing.
A timestamp on the video reads January 8, 2025, at 2:10 a.m. The law firm explained the time shown is in Coordinated Universal Time, which is 8 hours ahead of Pacific Time, or January 7 at 6:10 p.m. State investigators have said the Eaton Fire started on January 7 at 6:18 p.m.
The video then jumps to a visual the edited version claims to be “ten minutes later,” but the earlier timestamp on the video is no longer visible because the video has been zoomed in. A fire is seen in the distance and a fire truck can be seen driving in the direction of the fire.
“This is the clearest and most damning evidence yet — real-time video from a gas station security camera showing Southern California Edison’s power lines igniting the fire,” Jay Edelson, founder of Edelson PC, the law firm involved, said in a news release.
Ali Moghaddas, an attorney with Edelson PC, told CNN’s Veronica Miracle the firm worked with electrical engineers and fire origin experts who are trained to look at arcing and how that arcing might start a fire.
Kathleen Dunleavy, a spokesperson with Southern California Edison, told CNN on Sunday it is too premature to determine what exactly the video shows.
“This is an ongoing investigation and every piece of information is crucial. We are fully cooperating with the investigation and are committed to a thorough process,” Dunleavy told The New York Times, which first reported the news of the video.
SCE and Edelson PC came to an agreement Monday during a court hearing to have SCE preserve evidence for at least 21 days in several circuits until all parties have had a fair and thorough opportunity to examine and inspect the area near the origin of the fire.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for February 18.
SCE agreed to keep some circuits de-energized unless they are instructed to power them on by California energy regulators, in which case SCE will give Edelson PC 48 hours notice.
In a Monday letter addressed to the California Public Utilities Commission, Paul Pimentel with SCE wrote, “SCE is reviewing the video further to assess any potential relation between the flashes shown in the video and SCE’s facilities in Eaton Canyon.”
“While our preliminary investigation uncovered no obvious damage to SCE’s facilities, based in part upon this new video and statements made by plaintiffs’ counsel claiming damage, we continue to assess the condition of our equipment in Eaton Canyon.”
Pimentel’s letter also addressed a fault line that was detected on the same day as the fire around 6:11 p. m. located miles away from the “County’s preliminary origin area.”
Video from residents shows flames
Other video, captured from nearby residents and shared with CNN, shows what appears to be the moments the flames from the Eaton Fire began and spread.
Pedro Rojas took video from the backyard of his Pasadena home around 6:24 p.m. on January 7 and told CNN within the next 20 minutes he and his family were evacuated.
Pedro Rojas took video from the backyard of his Pasadena home around 6:24 p.m. on January 7. (Photo Credit: Pedro Rojas via CNN Newsource)
Flames can be seen at the base of an electrical transmission tower at 6:24 p.m., and by 6:41 p.m. he and his family evacuated, he said.
Plumes of smoke can be seen billowing out of the area as gusts of wind can be heard throughout the video.
The Los Angeles Times previously quoted an investigator with Cal Fire as saying the area around a hillside transmission tower was off limits because it was under investigation as “the start of the Eaton Fire.”
Altadena residents Jennifer and Marcus Errico captured photos around 6:15 p.m. of a similar scene at Eaton Canyon.
“I could see right across from us on the hillside in Eaton Canyon, there are a series of transformer towers with power lines stretching up into the mountains. And at the base of one, there was just a small ring of flames around the whole base,” Marcus Errico told CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
Footage captured from another nearby resident in Altadena, Jeffrey Ku, shows flames at the base of the tower around 6:19 p.m.
Other utilities that have been found liable for fires have paid high costs: Pacific Gas and Electric, California’s largest utility, filed for bankruptcy in 2019 after it was linked to a series of wildfires in California.
The company had been linked to a series of wildfires in California, including the Camp Fire, in which 85 people died and more than 18,000 structures were destroyed.
And a group of companies including Hawaiian Electric settled for $4 billion with residents for the businesses’ role in the 2023 Lahaina fire.
CNN’s Matthew J. Friedman, Elizabeth Wolfe, Lauren Mascarenhas and Paul P. Murphy contributed to this report
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