A coalition of Eaton Fire survivors and community groups on Tuesday called on Southern California Edison to provide immediate housing assistance to the thousands of people left homeless in the Jan. 7 wildfires.
The coalition says more Altadena residents are running out of insurance that was paying for their homes since being evacuated by the fire. Thousands of other residents were uninsured.
“When a business’s home is destroyed or contaminated by a fire, that business has a responsibility to house families until they can return home,” said Joy Chen, executive director of the Eaton Fire Survivors Network, one of the coalition members who is asking Edison to provide emergency assistance of up to $200,000 to each family.
At a coalition press conference, Altadena residents said they were trying to find a place to live after the Jan. 7 fire that killed 19 people and destroyed more than 9,000 homes, apartments and other structures. Thousands of other homes were damaged by smoke and ash.
Gabriel Gonzalez said he spent most of the last year in his car.
Before the fire, Gonzalez ran a successful plumbing company with six employees. He had moved into his Altadena apartment just a month before the fire, but lost $80,000 worth of tools when the building burned down.
Insurance didn’t cover the loss, Gonzalez said, and he lost his business.
Edison is now offering to pay fire victims directly for their losses if they waive their right to sue the utility.
But coalition members argue that Edison’s program forces victims who are most in desperate need of financial assistance to waive their legal rights to fair compensation.
“If families are forced to give up what they owe just to survive, recovery will never raise the funds needed to rebuild homes, restore livelihoods and stabilize communities,” said Andrew Wessels. He said he and his family had lived in 12 different locations since the fire left lead-contaminated ash in and around their homes.
Pedro Pizarro, CEO of the utility’s parent company, Edison International, said in an interview Tuesday that the company will not provide money to victims unless they agree to drop lawsuits against the company over the fires.
“I can’t even pretend to understand the hardships these victims are going through,” Pizarro said.
He said the company created the system to get funds to victims much faster than filing a lawsuit and waiting for a settlement.
“We want to help the community rebuild as quickly as possible,” he said.
Pizarro said Edison made the first payment to the victim within 45 days of the incident. He said the company has received more than 1,500 complaints to date.
Even though no official investigation into the cause of the fire had been published, Edison created a compensation program.
The company said the most likely theory is that the 100-year-old power line in Eaton Canyon was last used in 1971, and that the fire was caused by temporary power being supplied by live lines running parallel to it.
The program offers to compensate victims for their losses and provide additional amounts for pain and suffering. Bonuses are also awarded to victims who agree to settle their claims out of court.
Pizarro said the program is voluntary and if victims don’t like the offer they receive from Edison, they can pursue their case in court.
Edison told investors that it expects all victim payments and lawsuit settlements to be paid for by $1 billion in customer-paid insurance and $21 billion in state wildfire funds.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers created the wildfire fund in 2019 to protect utility companies from bankruptcy if power lines spark a catastrophic wildfire.
State officials say the fund suffered damage from the Eaton fire. The initial $21 billion was contributed half by customers of the state’s three largest commercial corporations and half by shareholders of both companies, but the additional damages from the Jan. 7 fire would be , according to the bill passed in September.
Some Altadena residents say Edison’s compensation program won’t pay the full amount of their losses.
Damon Brandt said the couple renovated their home just before it was destroyed by fire. They do not believe that Edison’s proposal is sufficient to cover the job.
Blount said he “felt betrayed” by the utility company.
“They literally took everything away from us,” Blount said. “Please do the right thing, Edison. We want to go home.”
At a news conference, fire victims pointed out that Edison reported profits of nearly $1.3 billion last year, up from $1.2 billion in 2023.
Last week, Edison International announced that it would increase the dividend it pays to shareholders by 6% due to its strong performance.
“Their stocks are going up,” said Zaire Calvin, an Altadena resident who appealed to Edison for emergency relief. Calvin’s sister dies in a fire, leaving him homeless. “They won’t pay a penny when this is over.”
