“There is clear evidence from video footage, photographs and witness statements that the fire was caused by electrical equipment operated by defendants Edison International and Southern California Edison (collectively “SCE”),” the lawsuit states. “SCE had a duty to properly maintain and operate its electrical infrastructure, but failed to do so.”

Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that despite “repeated and clear warnings and the assumption that SCE appeared to have shut down certain electrical equipment in and around Eaton Canyon, SCE failed to shut down all electrical equipment in the area that day.” “

In the hours “prior to the first report of a fire in Eaton Canyon at approximately 6:15 p.m.,” the court filing states, “Data shows that there were more than 300 disturbances on the SCE lines near the origin of the fire.”

Authorities currently believe the cause of the Eaton Fire remains under investigation. On Sunday, the utility issued a press release saying SCE had filed two Electrical Safety Incident Reports (ESIR) with the California Public Utilities Commission related to current wildfires – one for the Eaton fire and one for the Hurst fire.

The reports contain preliminary information and are provided “within two to four hours of a triggering event” and are often submitted “before SCE can determine whether its electrical systems are related to an ignition.”

In addition, the utility said it received discovery notices related to the fire from attorneys representing insurance companies, according to a preliminary analysis of circuit information for the four energized transmission lines in the Eaton Canyon area. This analysis shows no interruptions or operational or electrical anomalies in the 12 hours before the reported fire start to more than one hour after the reported fire start.

The plaintiff’s lawsuit says Southern California Edison has “a history of causing catastrophic damage to Southern California” and that its electrical equipment was responsible for the Thomas fire in 2017 and the Woolsey fire in 2018, “both costing thousands of homes destroyed and billions of dollars in damages and thousands of families displaced.”