SCE Concedes its Equipment May Have Sparked Hurst Fire

  SYLMAR (CNS) - Southern California Edison officials conceded in a regulatory filing Thursday that its equipment may be associated with the ignition of the Hurst Fire, which burned nearly 800 acres in the Sylmar area during the height of the January Southland firestorm.
  

The Hurst Fire, which erupted Jan. 7 and was fully contained on Jan. 16, did not result in any structures being destroyed or cause any deaths, unlike the region's two other massive fires -- the Palisades and Eaton fires, which killed a combined 29 people.
  

In a filing with the state Public Utilities Commission, Paul Pimentel of SCE wrote that while the Los Angeles Fire Department is continuing to investigate the cause of the fire, ``Absent additional evidence, SCE believes its equipment may be associated with the ignition of the Hurst Fire.''
  

The filing notes that the fire originated in the vicinity of an SCE transmission tower north of Saddle Ridge Road. SCE concedes in the filing that a conductor failure occurred on the tower on the night of Jan. 7, causing damaged equipment to fall to the ground at the base of the tower.
  

SCE has already been targeted in multiple lawsuits accusing its equipment of sparking the Eaton Fire, which burned 14,021 acres in the Altadena and Pasadena areas. The cause of that fire is still under investigation, but attorneys have recently pointed to surveillance video that appears to show SCE power lines arcing in the vicinity of the fire's origin on Jan. 7.
  

``While we do not yet know what caused the Eaton wildfire, SCE is exploring every possibility in its investigation, including the possibility that SCE's equipment was involved,'' Pedro J. Pizarro, president and CEO of SCE's parent company, Edison International, said in a statement Thursday. ``We have been fully engaged since the start of the fires in supporting the broader emergency response, containment, recovery and investigation efforts.''
  

SCE officials said its investigation into the fire's cause is likely to take several more months.
  

``Our hearts go out to everyone who has suffered losses,'' Pizarro said. ``We are working with the local communities SCE serves to rebuild and emerge stronger. We understand the community wants answers, and we remain committed to a thorough and transparent investigation.''

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