State Regulators Investigating Whether SoCal Edison Equipment Linked To Woolsey Fire
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — State regulators are investigating Southern California Edison (SCE) for its possible role in the massive Woolsey Fire burning in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, according to a report Monday.
California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) officials say SCE electrical infrastructure may have malfunctioned near ground zero of the fire, which had burned 91,572 acres and was 20 percent contained as of Monday.
Two minutes before Cal Fire said that the devastating fire began Thursday, SCE issued an alert to the CPUC after a a substation circuit near the Woolsey Fire origin "relayed," or sensed a disturbance on the circuit.
Since then, SCE personnel have been unable to access the area where the fire reportedly started.
The agency is also investigating PG&E for its possible role in the Camp Fire in Butte County, which has burned 113,000 acres and resulted in at least 29 deaths, the report said.
At least two people have been killed in the Woolsey Fire, and an estimated 370 structures have been destroyed.
On Oct. 30 - less than two weeks ago - SCE officials revealed electrical equipment owned by the utility may have been "associated" with the start of the massive 2017 Thomas Fire.
Started in Dec. 2017, the Thomas Fire that raged across Ventura and Santa Barbara counties became the largest by acreage in state history, charring 282,000 acres, or 440 square miles — larger than the city of San Diego.