Eaton Fire, 2025
The Eaton Fire started above Altadena on the evening of January 7, 2025. Los Angeles County's investigators found it was caused by electrical arcing on an out-of-service Southern California Edison (SCE) transmission tower. It destroyed 9,419 structures, and CAL FIRE counts 19 people killed.
- Where
- Altadena and Pasadena, Los Angeles County
- Utility
- SCE
- Record
- Found by investigators
- Started on
- Transmission line
- Acres burned
- 14,021
Source: CAL FIRE
- Days to containment
- 24
Source: CAL FIRE
- Structures destroyed
- 9,419
Source: CAL FIRE
- Deaths
- 18 to 19
Sources: CAL FIRE; U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California
Found by investigators
The agency that investigated the fire found that the utility's equipment started it.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department's investigation concluded in August 2026 that the fire was caused by "electrical arcing events that took place on the out-of-service Southern California Edison (SCE) tower."
Source: County of Los Angeles
Transmission line
A high-voltage line that carries bulk power between substations, the kind the Golden Pacific Powerlink would be.
An out-of-service SCE transmission tower above Eaton Wash.
What happened
- Started
January 7, 2025, at 6:18 p.m., near Altadena Drive and Midwick Drive.
Source: CAL FIRE
- Contained
January 31, 2025, after 24 days.
Source: CAL FIRE
- Area
14,021 acres. Nearly 8,000 of them were Angeles National Forest land, the U.S. Attorney says.
Sources: CAL FIRE; U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California
- Buildings
9,419 structures destroyed and 1,076 damaged, by CAL FIRE's count. SCE's filing breaks the destroyed structures down as about 6,018 single residences, 96 multiple residences, 158 commercial or mixed-use structures and 3,146 minor structures.
Sources: CAL FIRE; Edison International and SCE, filed with the SEC
- Deaths and injuries
CAL FIRE lists 19 civilians killed and nine firefighters injured. The U.S. Attorney's September 2025 release says 18 were killed. Eighteen of the 19 lived in west Altadena, the Associated Press reported.
Sources: CAL FIRE; U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California; ABC7 Chicago
- Evacuations
Los Angeles County issued 100 evacuation orders and 58 evacuation warnings for the fire. That counts orders, not people.
Source: CBS Los Angeles
- Rebuilding
A year on, Los Angeles County counted 2,740 rebuilding permit applications in Altadena and Pasadena and 1,144 permits issued, with 535 homes under way in the burn zone. Between January and October 2025, 348 homes in the burn zone were sold and 123 were for sale, ABC7 found.
Source: ABC7 Los Angeles
The cause
- Where it started
The county's investigators placed the origin on the dry fuel bed below SCE's transmission towers, on the spur ridge above Eaton Wash.
Source: County of Los Angeles
- The tower
Press accounts of the report identify it as tower M16T1 on SCE's Mesa-Sylmar line, which had not carried power for more than 50 years.
Source: The South Pasadenan
- Investigations still open
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office is reviewing the evidence, and the county's reports are redacted while it does. The CPUC's safety staff is also investigating.
Sources: County of Los Angeles; Edison International and SCE, filed with the SEC
- Shutoffs
SCE says its distribution lines just west of Eaton Canyon had been shut off before the fire started, under its Public Safety Power Shutoff program. It also says it has transmission facilities on the east side of the canyon.
Source: Edison International
- What SCE says
SCE says it "has not conclusively determined that its equipment caused the ignition", but that "a viable explanation is that a de-energized idle SCE transmission facility" in the preliminary area of origin was associated with it. In lawsuits, SCE has claimed that county agencies failed to send timely evacuation warnings to east and west Altadena.
Sources: Edison International and SCE, filed with the SEC; ABC7 Chicago
What it cost
- Paid to residents so far
More than $375 million to more than 2,400 claimants through SCE's voluntary Wildfire Recovery Compensation Program, with more than $775 million offered, as of July 31, 2026.
Source: Edison International
- Settlement losses SCE has recorded
$1.6 billion, as of June 30, 2026. SCE expects to recover $917 million of it from customer-funded self-insurance, $645 million from the state Wildfire Fund and $70 million through FERC electric rates.
- Lawsuits
About 2,000 lawsuits, by about 32,000 individual plaintiffs plus insurers and public entities. The first bellwether jury trial is set for January 2027.
- Federal claim
The United States sued SCE in September 2025, alleging its negligence caused the fire, and seeks more than $40 million. That is a claim, not a finding.
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California
- Firefighting
Fire authorities estimated suppression costs at about $100 million.
Not published
We looked for these and found no source that publishes them:
- How many people were evacuated, or for how long
- How many households never returned
- Insured losses for this fire
- Any criminal charge (the District Attorney's review is open)