A Ventura County man who lost his home in the Woolsey Fire, has sued Southern California Edison alleging the fire was caused by the utility company's negligence.
In the suit, filed Thursday, the man alleges the fire started underneath Edison-owned power lines on the Rocketdyne facility near Simi Valley. Woolsey Fire flames were first reported at 2:24 p.m. on November 8, right near the facility. Edison also reported an outage two minutes before the fire ignited at its Big Rock circuit out of the Chatsworth Substation located on the Rocketdyne facility.
The suit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, also alleges the Woolsey Fire started under similar circumstances as the Thomas Fire in Ventura a year ago. Edison admitted its equipment was a factor in one of the fire's ignition points only last month.
"Despite this knowledge, SCE failed to take adequate precautions to prevent its equipment from sparking the Woolsey Fire," the complaint alleges, referring to the Thomas Fire.
Steven Conroy, a spokesman for Edison, said the company is fully committed to working with fire investigators as they look into the cause of the Woolsey Fire.
"We stand ready to work with them... cooperate and provide them information to go on with the investigation," Conroy said.
One of the attorneys with the group representing plaintiffs suing Edison over the Thomas Fire filed the new Woolsey Fire lawsuit on behalf of his plaintiff who lost his 20-acre property, pets, and cars in the fire.
Alexander Robertson, an attorney based out of Westlake Village, will join the show today at 2 p.m. Robertson said he has interviewed many firefighters who were first on scene of the fire and they all said the blaze started directly below the power lines.
"There's a lot of anger, more anger this time than the Thomas Fire," Robertson told the Ventura County Star.
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