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Investigators are looking into whether a defunct “zombie” power line ignited the apocalyptic Eaton Fire that incinerated nearly 10,000 structures in Los Angeles County — despite utility company officials insisting their equipment likely didn’t cause the blaze.Engineers from the Southern California Edison (SCE) power company now suspect an electric charge may have jumped from active, high-voltage lines into an “idle line” that has not been live for more than 50 years, possibly sparking the Jan. 7 wildfire, SCE told the Wall Street Journal.
Speculation grew that faulty power lines could have caused the blaze when security camera footage from a gas station revealed flashes along active power lines near the wildfire’s origin in Eaton Canyon.SCE officials told the Journal that no active lines were to blame but said the flashes in the video may have been electromagnetic charges jumping from live lines to a dead one via a process known as “induction.”Eyewitnesses also reported seeing flames at the base of an SCE-owned transmission tower.
The idle line in question had been out of commission since 1971, the outlet added, and though it had been outfitted with equipment to channel ambient charges into the ground, the SCE said it discovered damage to this equipment on part of the line. “If it’s not tied off appropriately, you have grounding problems…That electricity doesn’t dissipate into the ground like it should, and that leads to arcing,” attorney Mikal Watts told the Journal.
Watts has filed one of numerous class action lawsuits against SCE on behalf of fire victims who claim the utility could have prevented the devastating blaze had it properly maintained its equipment.
