County Probe of Blaze Didn’t Blame Edison

A Los Angeles County Fire Department investigation of the 1996 Calabasas fire found no wrongdoing by Southern California Edison Co., which is now under investigation by state authorities who want to know whether company negligence may have caused the devastating fire.

In a report completed about a month ago and obtained by The Times, county fire officials concluded that the “fire was accidental in nature, caused by an electrical arc/spark malfunction involving a high voltage power line(s).”

The report states that hot debris or embers from the electrical malfunction ignited grass and brush in the area. Firefighters estimated that winds were gusting up to 50 mph at the time, according to the report.

The county fire investigator, David C. Westfield, concluded in his report: “I plan no further fire scene investigation or action unless additional information becomes available.”

Deputy Fire Chief Jim Ryland said in an interview Thursday that Edison equipment was examined by county investigators but that the company was found not responsible for causing the blaze.

“We don’t see anything there that is obviously negligent. The guys went out there and looked at the site,” Ryland said. However, Ryland, whose department was in charge of fighting the blaze, also said that county authorities are monitoring the investigation by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention.

If negligence is proved by the state, then county officials may pursue further action against the utility company, such as recovering costs for extinguishing the blaze, he said.

Early this week, investigators raided four Southern California Edison offices based on a search warrant alleging that the fire started when trees brushed against a power line that Edison had failed to keep clear of vegetation.

The search focused on documents involving a power pole near where the fire started.

State authorities said investigators are looking into whether Edison failed to clear brush as required by law or was reckless in causing a fire that resulted in property loss or injury.

“We are enforcing state codes and state laws,” said Karen Terrill, information officer for the state forestry department. “We don’t have any judgment calls on what the county has done.”

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Meanwhile, Edison has asked a Superior Court judge to block release of a company investigation into the cause of the fire. Company lawyers are scheduled to argue to keep the documents sealed during an Oct. 14 hearing before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William Pounders, who signed the search warrant for the raid.

Steven Conroy, a spokesman for Edison, declined to comment on the state investigation or the county report.

“We know the county conducted an investigation of the 1996 Calabasas fire and came to conclusions,” Conroy said. “I do know we were part of the investigation. We certainly were in cooperation with them.”

Ryland said that because the county fire department was not involved with the state effort, he remained unsure of what might happen next.

“I’m not sure what they have to make them feel they had to go get a search warrant,” he said. “I don’t think we’re at odds with one another. This department may benefit from their looking into it.”