On Thursday morning, Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger responded to comments made by the CEO of Southern California Edison about the winds not being strong enough to shut off power to an Altadena transmission tower as a precaution last week.
It comes as several lawsuits were filed against the power company on Monday, with people blaming the company for the fires because it started under that transmission tower in Altadena.
One of those lawsuit is a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a woman who died in the fire.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Steven Powell said that the winds “would have to be 60 to 80 mph for the company to consider the de-energization of transmission lines” and that Edison saw readings that indicated the winds were lower than that range.
Barger, who represents the Fifth District where the Eaton Fire hit, responded to Powell’s remarks in an interview with L.A.’s Morning News.
“When I hear that kind of comment, it causes me concern because if not with the speed of the winds that night...I think anybody that lives in the area would scratch their head and say, ‘Are you kidding me?’” she said.
She added that she toured a burned-out medical facility near that tower.
“It was right up against the Eaton Canyon and there were power lines snapped,” she said. “So, I don't know where he's talking about, but I can tell you up in that area, the winds were strong.”
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Barger went on to say she would let the investigators do their job.
She also spoke on her invitation for President-Elect Donald Trump to come survey the fire damage, noting she’s confident Trump will make the trip.
“I'm confident that he is going to take time to talk to the residents who have been impacted,” she said. “These are residents that he talked to when he was running. These are the people that are the working class that are really the grease on the engine of this economy. These are people that that want to believe in this country, and he's going to stand tall.”
The Eaton Fire started on Jan. 7 at 6:18 pm near Altadena Dr. and Midwick Dr., according to CalFire. As of Thursday morning, the fire burned 14,117 acres and is at 55% containment,
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