Fairview Fire, 2022
The Fairview Fire started near Hemet on September 5, 2022, when a sagging Southern California Edison (SCE) line touched a communication cable. It burned 28,098 acres in Riverside County, destroyed 36 structures and killed two people.
- Where
- Near Hemet, Riverside County, starting at Fairview Avenue and Bautista Canyon Road
- Utility
- SCE
- Record
- Found by investigators
- Started on
- Distribution line
- Acres burned
- 28,098
- Days to containment
- Not published
- Structures destroyed
- 36
Found by investigators
The agency that investigated the fire found that the utility's equipment started it.
CAL FIRE found that the fire started when a sagging SCE conductor touched a communication line, SCE reports. The CPUC's safety staff found the contact and arcing came from too little clearance between the two.
Sources: Edison International and SCE, filed with the SEC; California Public Utilities Commission
Distribution line
A lower-voltage line that carries power along streets and roads to homes and businesses.
SCE's Sprague 12 kV distribution circuit, sagging into a Frontier Communications cable.
What happened
- Started
September 5, 2022. The CPUC staff's report gives about 3:37 p.m.; CAL FIRE's incident page lists 4:00 p.m.
- Contained
98 percent contained as of October 3, 2022, at about 28,307 acres. We found no published date for full containment.
- Area
28,098 acres. Nearly 14,000 of them were in the San Bernardino National Forest, the U.S. Attorney says.
Sources: CAL FIRE; California Public Utilities Commission; U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California
- Buildings
36 structures destroyed, 22 of them single-family homes, and eight damaged, five of them homes, by the CPUC staff's count. SCE, citing CAL FIRE, reports 22 homes destroyed, five damaged and 17 minor structures destroyed or damaged.
Sources: California Public Utilities Commission; Edison International and SCE, filed with the SEC
- Deaths and injuries
Two civilians were killed. One civilian and two firefighters were injured.
Sources: California Public Utilities Commission; U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California
The cause
- What failed
One of SCE's conductors touched and arced against a Frontier Communications messenger cable, because there was too little clearance between them.
- Rule violations
The CPUC's safety staff found that SCE violated several General Order 95 rules and Section 316 of the Public Utilities Code, including sag beyond SCE's own limit.
- Shutoffs
The weather did not meet SCE's criteria for shutting off power.
What it cost
- CPUC penalty
In March 2025 the CPUC's safety staff issued SCE a citation for about $2 million.
- Firefighting
$38,850,000 in estimated fire suppression costs, by the CPUC staff's report.
- Federal claim
The United States sued SCE in September 2025 for about $37 million, including about $20 million the Forest Service spent fighting the fire. That is a claim, not a finding.
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California
- Paid to insurers
SCE has settled the insurers' claims. The amount is not stated.
Not published
We looked for these and found no source that publishes them:
- How many people were evacuated, or for how long
- When the fire was fully contained
- How many households never returned
- Insured losses for this fire
- Any criminal charge (we found none)