Video Reveals New Details About Eaton Fire's Possible Origins: NYT

LOS ANGELES COUNTY, CA — A gas station surveillance video published Sunday by The New York Times reveals flashes of light followed by flames near electrical towers in Eaton Canyon, just minutes before the devastating Eaton Fire was reported.

The flashes, recorded by the surveillance camera at 6:11 p.m. Jan. 7, align with accounts from area residents, including one person who told the Times their lights flickered momentarily before the fire appeared under an electrical tower.

The cause of the blaze remains under investigation, but the Times noted the power lines carried by the towers were exposed to up to 100 mph winds the night the fire started.

Southern California Edison has said it had no record of electrical failure on lines in the area, according to the Times.

The Eaton Fire was reported around 6:20 p.m. in the area of Altadena and Midwick drives in the hills above Altadena. It had destroyed over 9,000 structures and was associated with 17 deaths as of Sunday, at which point it was 98 percent contained, according to Cal Fire.

“We’re not seeing any electrical anomaly until more than an hour after the reported start time of the fire,” Pedro Pizarro, president and CEO of Edison International, Southern California Edison’s parent company, said earlier in January, according to the Times.

At least a dozen lawsuits have been brought against Edison in connection with the blaze and a judge ordered the utility to release data from four low-voltage distribution circuits near where the fire began, the Times reported.

Read more from the Times.

City News Service contributed to this story.