A state safety agency said last Friday that SCE and four phone companies are responsible for the Oct. 2007 Malibu Canyon fire, and should be fined $99.2 million. One Malibu resident said he intends to file a lawsuit claiming an identical amount.
By Paul Sisolak / Special to The Malibu Times
A state commission has recommended Southern California Edison and four telephone companies be fined more than $99 million in fines, holding them accountable for the raging wildfire four years ago in Malibu Canyon caused by downed power lines.
The Consumer Protection and Safety Division of the California Public Utilities Commission said last Friday that SCE, Verizon Wireless LLC, Sprint Communications Company, NextG Networks of California and AT&T Communications of California, Inc. are responsible for the October 2007 blaze that destroyed 14 structures and 36 vehicles, and caused approximately $14.5 million in property damages. The fires were sparked when three top-heavy, electric wire utility poles exceeding their weight restrictions snapped during heavy winds.
The Malibu City Council agreed with the ruling at its regular meeting Monday. Councilmembers discussed sending an official city letter to the commission registering their support.
Mayor John Sibert welcomed the news in an interview with The Malibu Times.
“I think that there’s no question somebody has to be responsible for overloading those poles,” Sibert said. “Whether it’s SCE, Verizon, the cable companies, they’ve all been at it. Something needs to be done about it.”
SCE released a statement this week in response to the commission’s ruling, saying the company never acted irresponsibly or caused the wildfires.
“SCE believes the recommended penalties are not supported by the evidence and are excessive,” the statement reads. “SCE is particularly disappointed in allegations in division staff’s testimony from earlier this year that the utility misled the commission during the course of this investigation. SCE believes it has at all times complied with its obligations and will continue to vigorously defend itself in this proceeding.”
The 2007 fire completely destroyed Castle Kashan, which sat atop a bluff off Malibu Canyon Road and was owned by philanthropist Lilly Lawrence. The Malibu Presbyterian Church was also destroyed, along with several businesses and classrooms at two schools. Central Malibu was evacuated for three days and three firefighters were injured.
Malibu resident Ed Meyer, whose house on Piuma Road was damaged in the fire, said he planned to file a lawsuit this week claiming the same $99.2 million amount against SCE and the cell phone companies. He said he was doing so to keep the pressure on Edison so the company puts the overloaded power lines underground. Edison previously resisted undergrounding the lines because it would be expensive, company officials had said, costing $1 million per mile to do so. Meyer disagrees and said that it would cost less than what SCE could be fined now.
“I had two Edison guys in my house one day, and they said, ‘Oh, we can’t justify that amount of money for that,’” Meyer recalled.
But he expressed approval on the fines handed down by the public utilities commission, calling it “a stiff penalty.”
Meyer questioned what steps will be taken next to restore the canyon’s infrastructure.
“What are they going to do with the wires now?” he asked. “Are they just going to sit there, are they going to take action, is it going to require court action? Because [the problem is] still there.”
Sibert called for immediate action as well, but said that it has proved difficult because Malibu is in a difficult area to provide utilities.
“It’s a deferred maintenance problem that SCE and the other folks that have stuff on those poles haven’t taken care of,” he said, “and they need to.”
Sibert added, “I’m not sure a $99 million fine for SCE is the way to solve it. We need to make sure those poles are replaced with good poles.”
The fines, along with Meyer’s intent to sue, do not end SCE’s troubles with the result of the fires. Dozens of other law firms are suing on behalf of a number of different individuals, businesses and insurance companies, in a joint, consolidated case. The various litigants are seeking damages for the fire from SCE and a number of telecommunications companies for overloading the utility poles. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection also filed for fire suppression costs last spring, insurance companies have filed for what they paid to policyholders, and individuals and businesses have filed for non-reimbursed costs from their insurance companies. A trial is set for Feb. 28.
The Consumer Protection and Safety Division of the Public Utilities Commission is expected this week to set a date for a conference to hear the allegations against SCE. The hearing is expected to last six weeks.