They have vowed to donate $1 million to support relief efforts
A billion dollar energy company is under investigation over a possible link to one of the wildfires in LA.
Southern California Edison, a subsidiary of energy giant Edison International, has admitted its grid experienced a short circuit issue on Tuesday evening.
The timing coincides with when the Hurst fire broke out but it remains unclear if that incident happened before or after the fire started.
The president of the company Pedro J. Pizarro said: “We are proud to support nonprofits that provide critical services to our customers and employees, and we are grateful for the contributions from other Southern California companies who have stepped up to support our communities during this difficult time.”
The SCE claim to have restored power of more than 500,000 customers since January 7 but 62,662 customers are still without power as of 5.30am January 12.
They said: “Severe equipment damage and access restrictions in areas impacted by wildfire may lead to restoration times taking longer than usual, from several days to, in some instances, weeks.
“Thousands of SCE employees and contractors are working alongside mutual assistance crews 24/7 to restore power.”
The death toll from the wildfires has risen to 24. The LA County coroner’s office attributes eight of those deaths to the Palisades fire and 16 to the Eaton fire.