Southern California Edison filed lawsuits Friday, Jan. 16, against a dozen public agencies it says should share liability for potential civil damages from the Eaton fire, including Los Angeles County for not sending evacuation alerts to west Altadena until the neighborhood was aflame.
Among those named in SCE’s two cross complaints are the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management, its contractor for evacuation alerts, Genasys, the Los Angeles County Fire and Sheriff’s departments and six agencies that provide water to the Altadena area.
The litigation contends residents in east Altadena received their first emergency alert about 30 minutes after the fire began at 6:18 p.m. Jan. 7, 2025. In contrast, residents in the primarily Black west side of Altadena were not notified to evacuate until 3:25 a.m. the next day, when the flames were already licking at their homes. All but one of the 19 deaths from the fire occurred on the west side.
“As alerts failed to arrive, many residents — disproportionately older adults and people with mobility or language barriers — either went to sleep or waited too long, believing they were outside any evacuation zone,” said the lawsuit against Los Angeles County.
An independent after-action report commissioned by the county attributed part of the delay to outdated and inconsistent policies and an understaffed emergency management office that was overwhelmed. The report said L.A. County’s emergency management staff numbered 37 at the time of the fire, with a county population of 10 million, compared to the 200 emergency office staffers for the much smaller city of New York.
Genasys, Los Angeles County’s emergency notification software provider, was the target of criticism after false evacuation alerts were sent on Jan. 9, 2025. At the time of the Palisades and Altadena fires, only four emergency management staffers had a working knowledge of the month-old system.
The late alerts are “just one example of why we feel others bear responsibility and they need to be brought in and they need to be able to participate and have a seat at the table when we discuss how harm and how faults should be allocated here,” SCE attorney Douglas Dixon said in an interview.
SCE also is suing Los Angeles County for allegedly failing to maintain brush in undeveloped land near Altadena and not updating a map to show the area as having a very high risk of fires.
“Failing to do so deprived residents in that area and others from stronger preventative protections,” Dixon said.
Los Angeles County officials declined to comment on the litigation.
Dozens of lawsuits have been filed blaming Edison’s equipment for causing the deadly fire that leveled much of Altadena. Among the plaintiffs is Los Angeles County, which is seeking to recoup the costs of fighting the blaze. Damages from the fire are expected to be in the billions of dollars.
A state investigation remains underway into the cause of the fire, but SCE has acknowledged the culprit may be a long-dormant power line that became reenergized and sparked the brush. Without admitting liability, SCE has launched a program to compensate Eaton fire victims who agree not to sue.
Dixon said the cross litigation is partially aimed at protecting a $21 billion state fund, from which most of the Eaton damages would be paid if SCE is found liable. The California Wildfire Compensation Fund was formed by legislators in 2019 to keep SCE and two other private utilities from going bankrupt if found liable for causing fires. However, lawmakers are concerned that damages from the Eaton fire alone could decimate the fund.
Los Angeles County’s emergency management as well as the Sheriff’s and Fire departments also were cited in the cross complaints for not activating services to transport the elderly and disabled to safety. Those with mobility issues — many of whom were at nursing homes — were left fending for themselves or relying on a group of Pasadena Transit bus drivers.
The Fire Department also was faulted by SCE for not having the firefighting resources to battle the blaze. When the fire spread to west Altadena, only one fire truck was in the area, the suit alleged.
About 28% of LA County’s front-line large pumper engines — each with the ability to carry 500 gallons of water — were out of service. Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone, the day after the fires erupted in Pacific Palisades and Altadena, said the county as well as the 29 fire departments in the county were not prepared to handle such a widespread disaster.
“LACoFD’s Fire Chief described the lack of fire trucks in west Altadena as one of ‘human error’ by fire officials who decide where firetrucks should move and said the command team ‘failed to divide resources evenly between east and west Altadena as the fire developed,’ ” the suit said.
Utilities supplying water to Altadena and parts of Pasadena were blamed by SCE for not providing an adequate water supply to fight the fire. Hydrants and garden hoses went dry, according to the lawsuit.
“Cross-defendants were aware of the risk of large wildfire well before the Eaton Fire, yet did not take any steps to ensure there would be available water to fight such a fire,” the suit said.
Named in the suit were Pasadena Water & Power, Sierra Madre City Water Department, Kinneloa Irrigation District, Rubio Canyon Land & Water Association, Las Flores Water and Lincoln Avenue Water.
A separate cross complaint against SoCal Gas alleged the utility’s design and actions caused gas leaks, gas fires, reignition of fires, gas explosions, and secondary ignitions during the critical early stages of the Eaton Fire. This directly contributed to fire spread and impeded firefighting and evacuation efforts.
Chris Gilbride, a spokesperson for SoCalGas, said the utility “will carefully review the complaint and will respond through the judicial process.”
“SoCalGas has worked diligently, in close coordination with local and state officials, to assess the impacts of the fires on SoCalGas’ infrastructure, make necessary repairs, and safely restore service to thousands of customers,” he said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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