California: Utility company sued, accused of being responsible for Eaton fire

A group of people affected by the fires that are sweeping Southern California filed four lawsuits against Southern California Edison (SCE) - a company that supplies utilities in the state such as electricity and heat - accusing it of being responsible for the origin of the fires.

These four lawsuits, signed by homeowners, tenants and business owners, were filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The plaintiffs, based on witness statements and images, claimed that the Eaton fire originated at the base of a transmission tower owned by SCE. At the time the fires started, the electrical equipment was energized, they said.

The company denied the accusation, after conducting an internal analysis, claiming that they shut down the tower long before the fire started and spread due to strong gusts of wind.

"That analysis shows no operational/electrical outages or anomalies between 12 hours prior to the fire start time and more than one hour after the start time," the company said in a statement.

The fires in California have already left 25 people dead and more than 90,000 were forced to evacuate. In addition, the fires have burned more than 37,000 acres in areas such as the upscale town of Pacific Palisades and the city of Altadena.