On January 7, 2025, a fire broke out in Los Angeles County that devastated thousands of people and destroyed over 15,000 homes and other structures. At the time of writing, the fires have claimed 29 lives, making it one of the deadliest fires in California’s recent history.
In addition to the destruction from the fires themselves, the fires left severe environmental and health hazards in their wake. Smoke and burned materials such as asbestos and lead severely deteriorated the air quality in the immediate and surrounding areas. People who have been affected by these fires, either directly or indirectly have already started to search for a cause and explore ways to find justice. With the fire still in recent memory, many people, including LA County have begun to file lawsuits, with many placing blame on Southern California Edison.
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What started the LA fires?
The original fire started in Pacific Palisades around 10:30 am on January 7th. Though it only began burning at around 10 acres, the fire quickly spread. By 3:30 pm, it was already burning over 1,000 acres. Strong Santa Ana winds, dry conditions, and narrow valleys all combined to create perfect conditions for the fires to continue to spread. These conditions quickly pushed the fires into residential areas, forcing evacuations and burning homes. In many cases, these winds moved the fire very quickly giving people little time to get out.
As for the initial spark, the cause has not yet been determined. Some of the causes currently being investigated include:
- Fireworks or other human activity: This can include fireworks that went awry, discarded cigarette butts, or campfires.
- Sparks from power lines: Downed power lines or inappropriately maintained equipment can spark fires. Some of the first footage from one of the LA fires was under a utility pole, giving credibility to the theory that the fire may have been started by downed power lines or a malfunction of utility equipment.
- Arson: No evidence has yet shown that the fires were deliberately set, but this is being investigated as a possibility. In this case, there were multiple fires that started in the same area in a short amount of time, which may point toward arson.
- Re-ignition of a previous fire: Due to extremely strong winds, it’s possible that a fire that had been previously put out re-ignited and caused the wildfires. A nearby fire that was extinguished on January 1 may never have been completely put out.
Determining a single cause of a wildfire can be difficult, and it may take a year or longer for investigators to determine a cause.
LA fire lawsuits
Historically, wildfires are followed by lawsuits, often claiming that utility companies or government agencies were negligent. Particularly when insurance doesn’t cover the complete cost of damages, which is the case for many people affected by these recent fires, lawsuits are a popular way to recoup some of the losses.
In addition to lawsuits against the utility company, other types of lawsuits have already begun to emerge, including class action lawsuits, lawsuits alleging government negligence, and lawsuits related to environmental concerns in the wake of the fires.
As time goes on and more is learned about the fires and what caused them, lawsuits are sure to continue to grow. With lawsuits only in the early stages, it’s unclear the amount of damages that will be paid out. However, previous lawsuits have seen settlements that have reached billions of dollars. If you would like to see if you are eligible to file a lawsuit related to the Los Angeles Pacific Palisades fires, we can help.
