A transmission tower of Edison to the south of California to the south was dismantled, removed and transported by the helicopter on Wednesday so that it can be tested to determine which, if necessary, the role it played in the ignition of the devastating Eaton fire.
The pylon overlooking Eaton Canyon has been at the center of the investigators for months who are looking to determine what triggered the fatal fire on January 7, after the video captured the initial flames that burned under the structure.
Known as M16T1, or Tower 208, the structure has not been used by the public services company for over 50 years, but Edison officials have said it, and the inactive line it has transported, in a way invigorated the day the fire began to burn. In a previous interview with The Times, the Director General of Edison International, Pedro Pizarro, said that the rereading of the line, through a rare phenomenon known as induction, is now a main theory in what has triggered hell.
On Wednesday, the crews uninstalled the metal tower of a steep hill and now built up overlooking Eaton Canyon, where it has been located since 1971.
A Sky Crane helicopter raised and transported the tower to two large pieces.
SCE had planned to remove the tower since last week, but the rain and the covered sky forced crews, and the helicopter had used and transported the equipment of the hill, to delay the work.
The tower was dismantled and transported by truck to an Irwindale warehouse, where it will be examined, photographed and tested in the laboratory to search for clues, said David Eisenhauer, spokesperson for southern California Edison.
In the warehouse, the tower will be tested and examined by fire investigators with fires from the County of Los Angeles, officials and experts from Southern Edison California hired by a growing list of complainants who have since continued the company of public services for having pretended the fire.
“We are really looking for everything that will help the investigation,” said Eisenhauer. “This is a close examination where we are looking for information.”
Three transmission laps are seated near the other on the steep hill, but only the inactive tower was removed on Wednesday.
Two weeks ago, SCE deleted the inactive power lines that connected to the tower and were part of the Mesa-Symar SCE line, which has also been inactive for decades.
Los Angeles County fire officials still investigate the start of the fire and have not commented on a possible cause, but private investigators and Southern California officials of Edison have focused their attention on the canyon transmission towers.
The public service company also revealed to state regulators that it had found an unusual activity on its equipment roughly at the same time when the fire would have started.
On Wednesday, the inactive transmission tower at the center of the Eaton Fire survey is swept away by helicopter.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
The company told state regulators that four lines, including the dormant line Mesa-Sylmar, saw a momentary increase in electric current at the same time when the fire started. The incident occurred after the company detected a fault on its Eagle Rock-Gould line, which connects to the Gould sub-station in the Cañada Flintridge, about five miles of the ignition point suspected of the fire.
On January 19, Edison Crews also briefly re -engaged the transmission lines on Eaton Canyon and “observed a small lightning of white light during each revitalization”. Lightnings have occurred on equipment that transports the active Mesa-Vincent and Goodrich-Gould lines, Edison officials said in a letter to regulators. Lightnings were also observed on the Mesa-Sylmar line, which was not connected to a substation.
Some lawyers who pursue Edison also allegedly alleged that the inactive tower, 208, had been poorly rooted and laid a risk, pointing to a grounding thread which seemed to have been exposed on the hill. The grounding line is supposed to be linked to the tower and buried deeply in the ground, but the photos submitted in court showed about 4 feet of thread exceeding the steep hill, under the tower.
Only a few weeks after the start of the fire, SCE has updated an internal manual, detailing how crews should die from the inactive transmission towers – like Tower 208 – from now on. SCE officials said it was the only change made to the great detailed manual after the fire on January 7.
Edison first refused to disclose the changes to the manual. A spokesperson said the changes were to clarify the language in his basic policy.
A helicopter puts itself in position on an Altadena hill to remove a transmission tower. The tower and the inactive line which it carried in some ways which have become reprimised the day the fire Eaton began.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
The company then shared with the Times that the modifications made to its policies of landing of the inactive tower, showing the new Earthlying instructions, provided new specifications for equipment, including the type of earthen wire and the number of bolts to be used, depending on the type of structure.
The previous version of the manual did not provide this type of specificity. Rajdeep Roy, vice-president of transmission operations for Edison, told Times that before changes, the engineers have determined the grounding procedures on a case-by-case basis, taking into account equipment, land and the environment.
Edison officials said that a second round, also linked to the Mesa-Sylmar line, was to be withdrawn and led to the Irwindale warehouse later this week, so that it can also be inspected and tested.
This tower, said Eisenhauer, was near the Bould sub-station, where the fault had been detected by the public service company.
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