- Southern California Edison believes
evidence shows there were at least two separate ignitions on Dec.
4, 2017, that led to the two fires that together are commonly
referred to as the Thomas Fire — one in the Anlauf Canyon area of
Ventura County and another near Koenigstein Road in the city of
Santa Paula.
- SCE provided evidence to CAL FIRE and
Ventura County Fire Department (VCFD) that indicates fire was
burning in Anlauf Canyon at least 15 minutes prior to the start
time indicated by VCFD.
- Notwithstanding today’s report, a final
determination on cause and responsibility will only be made through
the legal process.
- SCE supports comprehensive reform to
urgently address the growing wildfire threat.
Today, SCE issued the following response to the report by CAL
FIRE and VCFD on their review of the causes of the Anlauf Canyon
ignition of the Thomas Fire:
We keep in our thoughts all those who have been affected by
wildfires. The devastating loss of lives, homes and businesses is
tragic, and SCE will continue to provide assistance and support to
those affected by wildfires. The safety of our customers, our
employees, and our communities remains our most important
focus.
SCE believes evidence shows there were at least two separate
ignitions on Dec. 4, 2017, that led to two fires that together are
commonly referred to as the Thomas Fire — one in the Anlauf Canyon
area of Ventura County and another near Koenigstein Road in the
city of Santa Paula. Based on currently available information, SCE
has not determined whether its equipment caused the ignition in the
Anlauf Canyon area. SCE has evidence that the ignition at Anlauf
Canyon started at least 12 minutes prior to any issue involving
SCE’s system and at least 15 minutes prior to the start time
indicated by VCFD in its report. SCE provided this evidence to CAL
FIRE and VCFD investigators; however, the report does not suggest
this evidence was considered. SCE believes the Anlauf Canyon
ignition may have been independently responsible for a significant
portion of the Thomas Fire damages. SCE also is not aware of any
basis for criminal liability.
Separately, the company previously disclosed that its equipment
appears to have been associated with the Koenigstein ignition. The
specific cause cannot be determined until SCE can analyze the
equipment currently in CAL FIRE’s possession and any other evidence
that may be described in a separate report, relating to the
Koenigstein ignition, which has not yet been issued.
SCE fully cooperated with fire officials throughout their
investigation.
Anlauf Canyon
The report states the fire started at approximately 6:20 p.m.
SCE has evidence that indicates the ignition in Anlauf Canyon
started at least 15 minutes prior to VCFD’s indicated start time
and 12 minutes prior to any known issue involving SCE’s system. SCE
has obtained publicly available radar data showing a smoke plume in
the Anlauf Canyon area emerging well in advance of the report’s
indicated start time of 6:20 p.m. SCE believes this evidence
uncovered in its review of the Anlauf Canyon ignition is highly
relevant to the accurate determination of the start time, origin
and cause of the ignition.
Evidence critical to the investigation also was not preserved as
a result of the failure of VCFD investigators to prevent the
destruction of that evidence, including physical evidence in the
area near the fire origin, as well as video footage from Ventura
County’s own webcams closest to the fire. SCE understands that
Ventura County had approximately 12 cameras in the vicinity, but
VCFD recently revealed it had failed to preserve video footage from
11 of those cameras.
While SCE greatly admires the first responders and members of
the firefighting community who bravely responded to the Thomas
Fire, the company is disappointed that VCFD’s investigators failed
to preserve critical evidence and seemed to ignore best practices
in conducting their origin and cause analysis.
Deliberate consideration of all relevant information and
preservation of all relevant evidence are essential to ensure an
investigation is thorough, complete and accurate. We underscore
that any investigative findings do not provide a final resolution
as to cause or responsibility. The courts will need to make
that determination after a full review of all the evidence.
SCE cannot comment further without a complete analysis of the
report, including its attachments which are not yet available, and
examination of the evidence that remains in CAL FIRE’s and/or
VCFD’s possession.
Comprehensive Policies Still Needed to Address Growing Threat
of Wildfires
With the increasingly serious, ever-growing wildfire threat to
California, it is unmistakably clear that further urgent work is
needed to develop thoughtful, comprehensive policies to address
this statewide problem. SCE strongly supports the increased funding
for fire suppression and improved forest and land use management
policies included in 2018’s Senate Bill 901 (Dodd, D-Napa). While
the state legislature has taken an initial step to mitigate
wildfire risks through the passage of SB 901, much more is urgently
needed to address the critical issues of fire prevention, enhanced
suppression efforts and fair cost allocation rules.
In comments filed with the California Public Utilities
Commission (CPUC), SCE recommended that the CPUC establish a clear,
durable and repeatable process for assessing the prudency of
utility wildfire operations and enabling timely recovery of
prudently incurred, wildfire-related expenses. The wildfire
mitigation plans that SCE and the state’s other investor-owned
utilities are required to file at the CPUC under SB 901 should be
the basis for this process. These plans identify specific and
measurable wildfire mitigation activities to be undertaken, and SB
901 includes a process for the CPUC to review compliance with these
plans. We asked the CPUC deem that a utility has acted prudently
for purposes of cost recovery if it is found to have substantially
complied with its plan. If a utility has not substantially complied
with its plan and that non-compliance is a direct cause of a
wildfire, costs denied should be proportionate to the utility’s
misconduct and take into consideration other factors contributing
to the wildfire and its damages.
Edison’s Efforts at Managing the Wildfire Threat in
California
SCE has long taken substantial steps to reduce the risk of
wildfires in its service territory, including employing robust
design and construction standards, vegetation management activities
and operational practices.
On Feb. 6, SCE filed its proposed 2019 Wildfire Mitigation Plan,
the first of what will be an annual submission. The plan is
intended to address and greatly reduce fire ignitions caused by
utility infrastructure. It also is intended to further fortify the
electric system against the increasing threat of extreme conditions
driven by climate change and the impacts of wildfires if they
occur. About 35 percent of SCE’s service area is located in high
fire risk areas.
The plan takes a broad approach that includes enhanced
inspections on all of the company’s overhead power lines in high
fire risk areas in the immediate term to identify and remediate
potential issues outside of standard inspection cycles. It will
further harden infrastructure, bolster situational awareness
capabilities, enhance operational practices and harness the power
of data and technology.
About Southern California Edison
An Edison International (NYSE:EIX) company, Southern California
Edison is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, serving a
population of approximately 15 million via 5 million customer
accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within Central,
Coastal and Southern California.
Safe Harbor Statement for Investors
Statements contained in this press release about the Thomas
Fire, and other statements that do not directly relate to a
historical or current fact, are forward-looking statements. In this
press release, the words "believes," "continuing to," "predict,"
"plan," "may," "will," and variations of such words and similar
expressions, or discussions of strategy, plans or actions, are
intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements
reflect our current expectations; however, such statements
necessarily involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results could
differ materially from current expectations. Important factors that
could cause different results include the timing and outcome of the
investigations and internal review of the Thomas Fire. Other
important factors are discussed in Southern California Edison’s
Form 10-K, most recent Form 10-Q, and other reports filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available on our
website: edisoninvestor.com.
Edison International and Southern California Edison Company have
no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking
statements, whether due to new information, future events, or
otherwise.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190313005925/en/
Media Contact:Steve Conroy, (626) 302-2255
Investor Relations Contact:Sam Ramraj, (626) 302-2540
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