Southern California Edison’s internal wildfire forecasts underestimated the potential size of the Eaton Canyon fire in Los Angeles by a factor of ten in the days leading up to a deadly conflagration in January, according to documents reviewed by Reuters.
The miss suggests potential weaknesses in the utility’s fire modeling capabilities that factored into its response to the January wildfire threats, despite being upgraded with improved computing, datasets, and artificial intelligence.
At the time, wildfires whipsawed through Los Angeles’ western flank near Santa Monica and Eaton Canyon in the east as they consumed more than 34,000 acres – or some 53 square miles – turning entire neighborhoods to ash.
Although no official cause for the Eaton Canyon blaze has been released, numerous lawsuits have claimed SCE’s decision to keep power flowing to some lines and towers in the Altadena area led to the circumstances that triggered it.
SCE has said the cause and circumstances around the fire are under investigation and will be for some time and defended its modeling capabilities.
“We are confident with our fire spread modeling and weather forecasting,” Raymond Fugere, SCE’s asset intelligence director, told Reuters in an interview.
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Author: Faith Novak
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