Photographs of the Edison Towers and the Eaton Canyon Regrowth.
CA DSC 2302 2-27-25 - Tower in question is the smallest one on the left
The first week after the fire started I thought the origin point was closer to the Eaton Canyon Bridge at the head of the canyon based on the burn patterns. On February I met a handyman near the intersection of Midwick, Roosevelt, and Altadena Drive; The Midwick trail connection gate is on the East side of Altadena Drive there. He said he was doing yard work for the homeowner when the fire started. He first thought it was a barbeque and thought someone was crazy for cooking outside in those conditions, with powerful swirling winds. He said as the smoke intensified he came out to the street and saw the fire in Eaton Canyon growing by the second. He pointed to three Edison towers Southeast of the intersection and said the fire started near the base of the towers. He obviously did not see how the fire ignited. He told me the small canyon next to the towers was known as Coyote Canyon and that unhoused people had lived in that area before. He said he heard rumors that someone in an encampment had started the fire, but he had no knowledge whether that was true or not.
On January 14th I photographed an Edison helicopter apparently surveying Eaton Canyon and when I inspected the image I saw there appeared to be a downed wire on the ground. I couldn’t get access to the Midwick Trail Gate that day, it was in a restricted area and when it reopened to public travel the area was fenced off. Eaton Canyon is now closed for the rest of the year and the reason given is the area is unsafe. I have seen that area burn several times before and I have never seen it shut down after the fire was out. I even referenced the LA County Code posted on the sign after I first saw it and saw the code only forbids overnight camping. When I saw the helicopter it was further up the side of the Henniger Flats trail which is actually in the Angeles National Forest. I suspected that the wire might have been a factor but when attorneys suing Edison released videos of the origin point I knew that downed wire was not in that area. I had confirmed the Helicopter belonged to Edison by referencing its tail number. One of the primary security videos that helped determine the origin point was from the Arco gas station at Altadena and New York. I frequently buy gas at that Arco and on one of my stops in February I confirmed for myself that the three towers I had pointed out to me lined up with he video.
This post has a number of photographs of the origin point and the towers. One thing I noticed in them that the smallest tower, which was supposed to be a deactivated line which investigators think was reenergized during the wind storm and cause the fire, only had lines on the North end of the tower and none on the South side of it. You could see the conductor hanging on the South side. This is completely speculation, but I wonder if the winds blew the energized power lines were blown close enough to the deenergized line to allow an arc and transfer of energy. If that energy was traveling Southbound and got to the end of those power lines the energy could have been directed toward the ground where it ignited brush. Again, I need to stress this is all speculation and experts are working on determining the exact cause of the fire. I remember working with Pasadena PD in the 1980’s and photographing a kid who had been knocked off a similar tower on the west side of town. With him he climbed it for the view and when he got to within about twenty feet of the lines they arced, and he got zapped. The paramedics said he lived because the amps were low although the voltage was high. The transfer of energy was enough to also injury his friend who was standing on the ground but had his hand on the tower. I am sure the experts will figure it out but the theories I am hearing make sense. Also, in my photographs I did see evidence of brush below the towers that had not been cut back recently, and I didn’t see anything consistent with an encampment. This post is just to update and correct my January post on the origin point.
CA DSC 6405 5-11-25 - After suspect tower at point of origin had been removed for forensic study.
CA DSC1318 2-14-25 - Eaton Canyon the three towers north of the point of origin, you can see the small tower (The Deenergized line) has wires on both sides of the tower, while the origin point tower only has lines going to the tower in this photograph not the other way.
