((Automated translation by Reuters, please see disclaimer https://bit.ly/rtrsauto))
(Recast focuses on what could be first trial linked to death in Eaton fire) By Laila Kearney
The mother of a woman killed in the Los Angeles-area Eaton fire filed a lawsuit Friday against Southern California Edison in what could be the first death-related lawsuit filed against the power company in connection with the catastrophe.
Multiple fires that began burning and quickly spread in Los Angeles under strong Santa Ana wind gusts last week have killed more than two dozen people and charred some 40,000 acres of the second-largest metropolitan area of the United States.
While official investigators have not revealed the cause of the Eaton fire near Pasadena, SCEa is the subject of a growing number of lawsuits accusing the power company’s equipment of sparked the first flames.
Altadena resident Evelyn Cathirell sued SCE for wrongful death after the remains of her daughter, Evelyn “Petey” McClendon, were found in the home they shared after it was destroyed by fire.
“Petey’s final hours were marked by chaos and panic,” states the complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. “The environment was straight out of a disaster movie, with embers blowing freely in the wind, spot fires growing in all directions, and incessant wind”
Cathirell’s lawsuit follows numerous lawsuits filed against SCE this week by residents and business owners whose properties were destroyed.
-Lawyers for a woman who lost her home in the Los Angeles-area Eaton fire Thursday evening filed an emergency request for SCE to hold additional electrical equipment for examination in the part of the investigation into the fire, court documents show.
Evangeline Iglesias, who is among those suing SCE after her Altadena home was decimated by the blaze, asked Los Angeles Superior Court to halt SCE’s efforts to destroy some distribution lines and d other electrical equipment in the fire area, according to court documents.
An SCE spokesperson said the company was focused on restoring power to affected areas. The company said it was aware of the lawsuits related to the Eaton fire and would review them.
SCE, which is Edison International’s main subsidiary, previously said it had retained some electrical equipment for examination in fire investigations.
The law firm representing Iglesias, Edelson PC, said in filings that SCE had informed it in letters that it planned to immediately remove the physical electrical infrastructure from the fire area unless it was told specifically tell you what equipment to keep.
In his emergency request to the court, Edelson argued that this level of specificity was not reasonable, “particularly when most or all of this evidence belongs to SCE and SCE has unique knowledge of the “origin and spread of the fire”, as shown in the documents filed.
Numerous investigations into the causes of the Eaton and Palisades fires – California’s two most destructive fires – are underway.
