Altadena Eaton Fire Survivors Say They Will Demand Edison Prosecution Wednesday

Eaton Fire survivors and Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles said they will demand Wednesday, Sept. 9, that District Attorney Nathan Hochman prosecute Southern California Edison over the fire that destroyed much of Altadena.

The press conference is set for 4 p.m. at the Hall of Justice, 211 W. Temple St. in Los Angeles, organizers said. It follows the Aug. 4 release of county fire investigators’ reports identifying an out-of-service Edison tower as the cause of the January 2025 blaze that devastated Altadena, and comes while the District Attorney’s own review of the evidence yet remains open.

The Los Angeles County Fire Department’s Arson Fire Investigation Unit conducted that investigation jointly with CAL FIRE. After 18 months of review, working alongside retained electrical and metallurgical experts, investigators concluded that the cause of the fire was electrical arcing events on the out-of-service Edison tower. They placed the origin on the dry receptive fuel bed below the utility’s transmission towers on the spur ridge above the Eaton Wash.

The fire started Jan. 7, 2025, took the lives of 19 people, and destroyed or damaged more than 9,000 homes and businesses.

“I recognize that no report or investigation into the Eaton Fire can ease the deep pain and tragedy our residents have endured,” Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone said when the reports were released. “While the cause has been determined, our focus remains on assisting our residents to rebuild their homes and livelihoods, and ensuring lessons learned drive meaningful and impactful change in memory of the 19 lives lost.”

Portions of both reports were withheld because the District Attorney’s Office has an ongoing review of the evidence from the fire, the Fire Department said.

That review surfaced publicly in February 2026, when Edison disclosed in its annual report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and on an investor call the same week, that prosecutors were examining whether the utility should face criminal charges. The company said in the filing that it was “not aware of any basis for felony liability with regards to the Eaton Fire.”

Speakers Wednesday are expected to include talk show host James Farr, host of Conversation Live: Altadena Forward with James Farr on KBLA Talk 1580, along with community members and the families of Keith Porter and Christopher DeAndre Mitchell, organizers said.

“We’re asking the district attorney to apply the law where the facts take him,” Farr said in the announcement. “Nineteen people are dead. Investigators have told us what caused the fire. Now the question is accountability.”

The group said it also intends to ask Hochman’s office to examine how charitable funds distributed through nonprofit and community-based organizations involved in the fire recovery have been used, organizers said.

“Accountability doesn’t stop with the utility,” Farr said. “It also means following the money and asking hard questions about the nonprofit and community-based organizations entrusted with helping this community recover.”

A criminal case against a utility over a California wildfire would not be the first. Pacific Gas & Electric pleaded guilty in 2020 to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter and one felony count of unlawfully starting a fire, stemming from the 2018 Camp Fire, organizers said.

The Porter and Mitchell families are expected to raise separate demands at the same event. Organizers said they will deliver a petition signed by nearly 17,000 people asking Hochman to file charges against Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Brian Palacios in connection with Porter’s killing on New Year’s Eve. Mitchell’s family will call for prosecutorial action in his case, organizers said.

Under the California Public Utilities Code, Edison is required to maintain and operate its electrical lines and equipment in a manner that would minimize the risk of catastrophic wildfire posed by them.