A transmission tower of Southern Edison in California, which was removed as part of an investigation into what caused the Eaton fire was damaged on Thursday because it was raised by a helicopter, officials said.
The damage took place when the upper part of the tower came into contact with electric lines, as it was lifted, said David Eisenhauer, spokesperson for southern California Edison.
The tower was one of the two structures that were removed as part of their investigation into the cause of Eaton’s devastating fire on January 7. The other inactive transmission tower, known as M16T1, or Tour 208 and located at the point suspected of ignition, was removed on Wednesday. It was divided into two parts and transported by aircraft to an landing block to be transported to a warehouse.
This tower was removed without incident.
But this was not the case with the second tower, located near Gould Sons at La Cañada Flintridge.
“We recognize that there has been potential damage when a SCE tower was transported by helicopter,” said Eisenhauer.
No injury has been reported due to the incident.
It was not immediately clear how much damage had been suffered by the tower, or if it had an impact on the current investigation.
Eisenhauer said that the company still evaluated damage to the tower, which was moved Thursday evening to a landing block.
The tower had to be dismantled in three parts and removed to be tested on Wednesday, but the work was interrupted when the upper part came into contact with electric lines.
Eisenhauer said that the power lines that were in contact with the tower were not under tension at the time.
While the official cause of the fire is still under investigation by Los Angeles County Fire, the director general of the International Edison, Pedro Pizarro, told Times that induction – a rare occurrence when the inactive tower and the electric lines are revitalized – is now a main theory in the way the mortal fire has been triggered.
As part of an agreement between the SCE, the county investigators and an increasing list of law firms who brought an action against the public services giant, the two towers were to be withdrawn and taken to an Irwindale warehouse, where they would be tested and examined to search for clues.
The SCE told state regulators that four lines, including the dormant line Mesa-Sylmar, saw a wave of electric current roughly at the same time when the fire was triggered.
The company has also detected a defect on the Eagle Rock-Gould line, which also connects to the GELD sub-station.
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