The number of power grid failures near three major Los Angeles County fires spiked in the hours before the fires began, according to a company that monitors electrical activity.
Bob Marshall, CEO of Whisker Labs, said in an interview with The Times that areas near the Eaton, Palisades and Hurst fires saw massive increases in failures in the hours before the fires. Failures in the electrical network are due to tree branches hitting electrical cables or cables hitting each other, among other causes. Every failure causes a spark.
Collectively, the fires have destroyed or damaged more than 9,000 structures. Power equipment has caused destructive wind-driven wildfires in California in the past, but Los Angeles city and county firefighters say their investigators have not determined what sparked any of the fires.
“What I cannot say is that one of these failures caused the fire. “I don’t know,” Marshall said in an interview. “But it only takes one to start the fire.”
Data shared with The Times, but not yet published, showed the increase in failures.
In the area of the Palisades fire, one hour before the fire started, there were 25 network failures. In the hour the fire started, 18 breakdowns occurred, according to data from Whisker Labs.
The Eaton Fire was even more flawed. In that area, 50 failures were recorded at the time the fire started.
In the Hurst fire, there were 51 failures at the time the fire was reported. This came after four hours of continuous high levels of failures. In the previous four hours there were 120 fouls.
That is, despite the sparks flying in the area, the power was left on for the previous four hours.
“What we know is that the lines were not deactivated before the fire started,” Marshall said. “The problem is that utility companies don't have sensors to know that this is happening. This sensor network is sophisticated and sensitive. We have more information than them. “Our goal is to get utilities to pay attention to the data because there is value in knowing when the grid is under stress.”
In those three areas, failures in the days before the fires were negligible and only a few occurred.
Whisker Labs monitors electrical data using its Ting sensors, which monitor about 14,000 homes in the Los Angeles area. The monitors help Angelenos stop electrical fires in their homes, but together they provide information about the entire electrical grid.
“So when something bad happens on the grid — a power outage or a surge — we see it because it's measured by many sensors,” Marshall said.
Robert Garcia, fire chief of the Angeles National Forest for the U.S. Forest Service, said at a news conference that the cause of the Eaton Fire remains under investigation, but there are a number of factors to consider.
“There are a number of different activities in [Eaton Canyon]”Garcia said. “There was an audience there when it was happening. And there are power lines [that] run there. So we have teams that analyze all [possible starts].”
Los Angeles fire officials say the cause of the Palisades fire is also under review.
