To the editor: I read your article on the Southern California Edison chief executive claiming that his company did everything right before the Eaton fire with some amazement.
Certainly, everyone is playing the blame game right now, but for Edison to say that the winds were not within its 60- to 80-mph range for power cutoff is a bit surprising, particularly when the data (as reported in that same article) show that nearby wind speeds in Altadena exceeded 60 mph. I can only conclude that 60-80 mph is an arbitrary range, and Edison gets to decide when to cut the power when the winds are somewhere within it.
The real problem is that the monitoring station and the tower suspected of igniting the blaze were not in exactly the same location. Wind speeds at the tower could have been higher than those at the monitoring station.
Considering that inexpensive, tiny sensors are readily available and can provide real-time data, it’s remarkable that Edison was not directly monitoring the wind speed at an area likely to experience dangerous gusts.
Stefan Kirchanski, Santa Monica
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To the editor: Learning that Edison lagged in inspecting the transmission lines that may have ignited the fires once again underscored the flaws in this for-profit system.
It is simply unsafe to have a crucially important utility, inextricably tied to public safety, run by a corporation with a profit motive. Because when profit is the driver, cost-cutting is never far behind; in fact, it is baked into the system.
L.J. Williamson, Granada Hills
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To the editor: In order for Edison to prevail on its assertions that it is not responsible for the deaths, property damage and human misery caused by the Eaton fire, it will have to convince Cal Fire, every judge and every jury that hears every case against it that Edison is not responsible.
That is not going to happen, because its Southern California chief executive said that when he saw the videos and early images of the fire burning beneath one of Edison’s towers, it was reasonable to conclude that Edison was responsible for the Eaton fire.
Edison’s self-serving statements and reports to the contrary are not going to change that.
Charles Cummings, Pasadena
The writer is an attorney.
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To the editor: This large-scale destruction has one small silver lining: The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Southern California Edison can now put all utility lines underground when Altadena and Pacific Palisades are rebuilt.
Cary Adams, North Hollywood
