The US Department of Justice alleges that negligence by the company Southern California Edison sparked the deadly Eaton Fire in January.Published On 4 Sep 20254 Sep 2025The United States Department of Justice has filed two lawsuits against the utility company Southern California Edison, alleging that its negligence helped spark a major fire near Los Angeles.One of the complaints, submitted on Thursday, argues that the energy company failed to properly maintain its power and transmission infrastructure, contributing to the outbreak of the deadly Eaton Fire in January.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listThe second lawsuit alleges that similar negligence led to the Fairview Fire near the San Bernardino National Forest in September 2022.“The lawsuits filed today allege a troubling pattern of negligence resulting in death, destruction and tens of millions of federal taxpayer dollars spent to clean up one utility company’s mistakes,” US Attorney Bill Essayli said at a news conference.Energy utilities in the western state of California have faced frequent allegations that poor maintenance efforts in fire-prone areas have sparked deadly blazes.The administration of President Donald Trump, a Republican, has also frequently criticised fire prevention policies in the state, which is a Democratic stronghold.The Eaton Fire was one of several blazes that destroyed thousands of homes and covered southern California with layers of smoke in January, when Trump took office for a second term.The fire killed at least 19 people and resulted in the injury of nine firefighters, according to the state firefighting agency CAL FIRE.Southern California Edison operated three transmission towers near the site of the fire. In a report, the utility company said it detected a “fault” on one of its transmission lines around the time that the Eaton Fire started. Advertisement But an investigation into the origins of the fire is still ongoing, and the company said it had “not conclusively determin …
