According to Whisker Labs, a company specializing in monitoring electrical activity, there was a significant increase in faults hours before the Eaton, Palisades ,and Hurst Fires began.
An unusual increase in electrical faults was recorded in Los Angeles power grids just hours before the ignition of three major wildfires.
According to Whisker Labs, a company specializing in monitoring electrical activity, there was a significant increase in faults hours before the Eaton, Palisades, and Hurst Fires began. The company’s CEO, Bob Marshall, told Fox News that their network of 14,000 “ting” sensors across the city detected a significant increase in faults.
"Faults are caused by tree limbs touching wires or wires blowing in the wind and touching. That creates a spark in a fault, and we detect all of those things," Marshall explained. Other factors that can cause faults include things like equipment igniting, a surge in demand, or earthquake tremors.
Data obtained by the company and shared with Fox News found that in the area where the Palisades Fire broke out, 63 faults were recorded 2–3 hours before ignition, with 18 faults logged during the hour it began. The Eaton Fire near Altadena saw 317 faults before it started, and the Hurst Fire had 230. Typically, only a few faults occur daily.
Sparks from faults can ignite vegetation, and high winds can then spread rapidly. So far, officials have not announced an official cause for the fires that broke out last week. However, this new data could be an indication and serve as clues used by investigators.
"Importantly, what we cannot say is whether one of those faults caused the fire. We don't know that," Marshall said. "What we know from our data is that there were increasing faults in the grid in the area around where those fires ignited."
Marshall also pointed out that the data revealed the power was not shut off right away when the faults were rising. However, he reiterated, “we can't say definitively at all whether one of those faults caused a fire. I do want to be very, very clear about that.”
The revelation comes after regulatory filings reported on Friday by the Wall Street Journal found that the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power failed to proactively turn off power to mitigate wildfire risks ahead of the fires. This preventative measure is used by most major California power companies because utilities have caused wildfires in the past.
The Journal reported that a spokesperson for the department explained there are other safety precautions in place, and that widespread power outages as preventative measures could jeopardize emergency services.
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