US Justice Depart sues Southern California Edison over deadly wildfires, seeks $40M in damages

Los Angeles, United States: The US Department of Justice, on Thursday, filed two multi-million-dollar lawsuits against the company named Southern California Edison, accusing the major utility company of negligence that allegedly sparked destructive wildfires in Southern California.

The Department stated that the lawsuits allege Southern California Edison's (SCE) faulty equipment and inadequate maintenance practices contributed to the devastating Eaton Fire in January and the Fairview Fire in September 2022. According to the lawsuits, these fires resulted in 19 fatalities, destroyed thousands of homes, and scorched nearly 8,000 acres in the Angeles National Forest.

Southern California Edison (SCE) announced a Wildfire Recovery Compensation Program in July 2025 to provide financial support to victims of the Eaton Fire.

The Acting Attorney for United States, Bill Essayli, on Thursday said that he is hoping that today’s filings are the first step in causing the starting of a culture change at the Southern California Edison and this makes it a responsible as well as conscientious company which helps and not harms the community. He further said that hardworking Californians should not pick up the tab for the negligence of the company.

It is being said by the Justice Department that the previous Eaton fire in January swept through the greater Los Angeles area which is further fueled by the powerful winds and also the firefighter  spent weeks fighting with the fire to control it. But the fire was uncontrolled and unfortunately the fire also affected the area of Pacific Palisades.

Affected by the fire, thousands of people became homeless and at least 31 people were killed together and impacted so many people leaving them with health issues.

Also for so many months, the suspicion has pointed to an SCE powerline as the possible cause of the fire. Video footage and eyewitness reports indicated that the equipment may have emitted sparks capable of igniting the rapidly spreading blaze.

The company has also admitted that around that time they have detected some fault in a transmission’s line.

Further the government of the U.S. declared that they are seeking damages of worth $40 million from the company for causing the Eaton Fire. The government also alleges that the SCE repeatedly ignored  the warning and signs given by the government and also failed to implement basic safety measures to prevent future disasters.

After getting ignored by the company, the US government has filed their second lawsuit against the company on Thursday accusing SCE that in September 2022 Fairview Fire in San Bernardino, East of Los Angeles, the power line of their company ignited the fire killing 2 people, burnt 14,000 acres and destroyed multiple buildings.

Essayli in a further statement told the reporters that “these kinds of utility companies do not maintain their infrastructure and the area around the transmission lines which caused so many fires in California”. He further concluded his statement by saying that “the government wants Edison to change the way of their business.”