According to a company that monitors power activity, the number of disruptions to the power grid near three of the major fires in Los Angeles County spiked in the hours before the fires began.

Bob Marshall, chief executive of Whisker Labs, said in an interview with the Times that areas near the Eaton, Palisades and Hurst fires saw a massive increase in faulting in the hours before the fires. Disturbances in the power grid are caused, among other things, by tree branches hitting electrical cables or cables bumping into each other. Every mistake causes a spark.

In total, more than 9,000 buildings were destroyed or damaged by the fires. Electrical equipment has caused devastating wind-driven wildfires in California in the past, but fire officials in the city and LA county say their investigators have not determined what started the fires.

“What I can’t say is that one of these errors started the fire. I don’t know,” Marshall said in an interview. “But it only takes one to start the fire.”

Data shared with the Times but not yet released showed the increase in errors.

In the area of ​​the Palisades fire, there were 25 network disruptions in the hour before the fire broke out. According to Whisker Labs, there were 18 incidents in the hour the fire broke out.

The Eaton fire had even more faults. There were 50 disturbances in this area in the hour the fire broke out.

The Hurst Fire had 51 incidents at the time the fire was reported. This happened after four hours of sustained high levels of disruption. There were 120 disruptions in the previous four hours.

This means that despite the sparks flying in the area, the power remained on for the past four hours.

“What we do know is that the lines were not de-energized prior to the fire igniting,” Marshall said. “The problem is that utilities don’t have the sensors to detect that this is happening. This sensor network is sophisticated and sensitive. We have more information than they do. Our goal is to get utilities to pay attention to the data because it is valuable to know when the grid is overloaded.”

In all three areas, disruptions in the days leading up to the fires were negligible and only occurred in a few cases.

Whisker Labs monitors electrical data using its Ting sensors, which monitor approximately 14,000 homes in the Los Angeles area. The monitors help Angelenos stop electrical fires in their homes, but collectively provide information about the entire power grid.

“So if something bad happens on the grid – a power outage or a power surge – we see it because it is measured by many sensors,” Marshall said.

Robert Garcia, the Angeles National Forest fire marshal for the U.S. Forest Service, said at a news conference that the cause of the Eaton Fire remains under investigation but that there are a number of factors to consider.

“There are a number of different activities in (Eaton Canyon),” Garcia said. “When it happened, the public was in there. And power lines run there. So we have teams looking at all (possible starts).”

Los Angeles firefighters say the cause of the Palisades fire also remains under investigation.