Officials investigating whether Southern California Edison equipment ignited Hurst fire

Fire agencies are investigating whether downed Southern California Edison utility equipment played a role in igniting the Hurst fire near Sylmar, company officials said.

The company issued a report Friday saying that a downed conductor was discovered at a tower in the vicinity of the fire, but that it “does not know whether the damage observed occurred before or after the start of the fire.”

The company said, “fire agencies are investigating whether SCE equipment was involved in the ignition of” the fire, and that the investigation was ongoing. Utilities are required to report whenever a government entity launches an investigation into whether their equipment caused a wildfire.

Capt. Adam Vangerpen, of the Los Angeles Fire Department, confirmed that a “unified investigation” involving various fire and law enforcement agencies is underway, but could not immediately provide additional details Sunday.

The Hurst fire — which began Tuesday near Diamond Road in Sylmar — has burned nearly 800 acres, according to the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. It was 89% contained and evacuation orders had been lifted as of Sunday, though firefighting efforts were continuing — concentrated on “building and improving containment lines with a focus on public safety and structure protection,” Cal Fire said.

Three hundred personnel remained assigned to the fire, with air tankers flying fire suppression missions “as conditions allow,” Cal Fire said.

SCE previously said Thursday that it has received notices from attorneys representing insurance companies to preserve evidence regarding the Eaton fire, which has burned more than 14,100 acres and devastated Altadena. That fire was 27% contained as of Sunday morning, according to Cal Fire.

An independent analysis shared with The Times showed a huge increase in faults on the power grid near three of the major Los Angeles County fires — Hurst, Eaton and the Palisades fire — in the hours before the blazes began, when intense Santa Ana winds were blowing.

Faults caused by damaged or downed power lines or other equipment can in turn cause sparks. Bob Marshall, the chief executive of Whisker Labs, which provided the data, said he could not say if sparks from the faults caused any of the recent fires.

Utilities have long been a culprit of wildfires in the past, including in California, and have been fined and sued to the tune of billions of dollars.

In 2021, SCE agreed to pay $550 million in fines and penalties relating to the Thomas, Woolsey, Rye, Meyers and Liberty fires, which together burned more than 380,000 acres and destroyed thousands of homes.

In 2019, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. agreed to pay $13.5 billion to the victims of several Northern California wildfires that killed dozens of people and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses, including in wine country in 2017 and the town of Paradise in 2018.