Electric line ignites in Eaton Canyon 10 days after wildfire

An electric line that was repaired after the deadly Eaton wildfire caught fire last week, although emergency crews positioned nearby were able to quickly extinguish the flames.

Video and photos of the Friday evening fire show flames across an electric wire connected to Southern California Edison’s distribution lines in Eaton Canyon. Debris from the line fell to the ground and continued to burn until firefighters put it out.

David Eisenhauer, an Edison spokesman, said the company was aware of the Friday incident but found that it happened on “customer-owned equipment.” The company had not discovered any problems with its distribution lines in the area at that time, he said.

The line was less than a mile from Edison’s transmission tower that is a focus of investigators probing the Eaton wildfire that has killed at least 17 people and destroyed thousands of homes. Edison executives have said their early investigation showed the utility’s equipment didn’t ignite the wildfire on Jan. 7.

Eisenhauer confirmed that the company had recently replaced some distribution equipment near the site where the electric line burned Friday. He said the company could not disclose the name of the customer that owned the electric equipment because of confidentiality rules.

The wire was installed over a parking lot near the Eaton Canyon Nature Center that burned in the wildfire. First responders have been using the lot as a staging area.

Photos taken by an eyewitness show that Los Angeles County Fire Engine 66 was one of two trucks that responded to the electric line fire.

County fire department spokesman Carlos Herrera said the agency was inundated with media requests in response to the Eaton fire and couldn’t immediately provide comment or details about the incident.

The electric line that caught fire is known as a service drop, which connects a utility’s distribution lines to a customer.

Richard Meier, a private fire investigator in Palmetto, Fla., said that a service drop line catching fire could be a sign that it wasn’t robust enough to handle the power going through.

“If the wire is too small, you could have undue heating,” he said, “and eventually the line would catch on fire.”

A private fire investigator working in the area on Friday said he was leaving just after dark when he saw two bright flashes.

The investigator, who asked not to be named because he wasn’t authorized to speak to the news media, said he shared the images of the burning line because of the potential danger to the public.

Eisenhauer, the Edison spokesman, said the electric line fire didn’t meet the definition of one that the company must report to state regulators.

Among fires that must be reported, according to state rules, are those that cause injuries or property damage of $200,000 or more and may have been caused by the utilities’ equipment.

The Eaton fire is now 91% contained. It has burned 14,021 acres and destroyed more than 9,000 homes and other structures.

Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this report.