Town Hall Tonight Highlights Last 100 Days to File Many Eaton Fire Claims Against Edison

LA Fire Justice, a coalition whose attorneys are suing Southern California Edison on behalf of Eaton Fire survivors, will hold a free town hall tonight at the Pasadena Masonic Temple, 100 days before what the group says is the deadline to file certain claims against the utility.

The group says that deadline — January 7, 2027, two years after the fire began — applies to personal injury, emotional distress and wrongful death claims. California law generally allows two years to sue over an injury or death caused by another’s wrongful act or neglect.

The town hall runs from 6 to 8 p.m., with dinner at 6 p.m. and the presentation at 6:30 p.m., according to LA Fire Justice.

Attorneys Mikal Watts and Doug Boxer and LA Fire Justice CEO Chris Holden, a former Pasadena mayor and former state Assemblymember, are scheduled to walk through where the litigation stands and what families need to know before January 7.

Topics listed by the group include why Edison’s compensation program “may be a bad deal,” what a claim could be worth, “how the lawsuit helps Altadena rebuild,” the group’s path to settlement and how to get a free case evaluation.

Many displaced survivors still do not know the deadline exists, the group said.

“They deserve to have that information so they can make their own decision about whether to hire a lawyer and sue Edison,” the group wrote.

The group also wrote that Edison offers victims “a small fraction of what their claims are worth” through the utility’s Wildfire Recovery Compensation Program.

Edison describes their alternative to lawsuits, the Compensation Program, as voluntary and says its offers are designed to be comparable to settlements reached in past wildfire litigation, through a process intended to deliver compensation faster than litigation.

In August, the Los Angeles County Fire Department released the reports of an investigation it conducted jointly with Cal Fire. The reports concluded that arcing from Edison electrical equipment near a transmission tower in Eaton Canyon sparked the fire. The fire killed at least 19 people and destroyed close to 10,000 homes and businesses, most of them in unincorporated Altadena.

According to LAist, an Edison spokesperson said at the time that the company was “currently reviewing” the report, and spokesperson Scott Johnson said Edison “believes it is likely that its equipment was associated with the ignition of the Eaton Fire.”

Writing ahead of Tuesday’s Town Hall, LA Fire Justice CEO Chis Holden said “Every person who has a claim must sign up for the lawsuit while the path is still open. And every one of us must pick up the phone, reach out to the people we know, and make certain no one who belongs in this fight is left behind.”

NEED TO KNOW:

Eaton Fire Town Hall

Host: LA Fire Justice; When: Tonight, Tuesday, September 29, 6 to 8 p.m.; dinner at 6 p.m., presentation at 6:30 p.m.; Where: Pasadena Masonic Temple, 200 S. Euclid Ave., Pasadena; Cost: Free; dinner included; Parking: Free at 187 S. Euclid Ave. with validation. Attendees pull a ticket, tell the attendant they are with LA Fire Justice, then validate at the event by scanning the ticket and a QR code provided there; RSVP: lafirejustice.com/events; Information: (626) 684-3315.