Judge keeps Edison on hook for Malibu Palisades Fire claims Play

A county judge has removed Southern California Edison as a defendant from some of the lawsuits filed by Palisades Fire victims — those who live outside the city of Malibu in particular.

But Judge Samantha Jessner last week let people inside Malibu city limits sue SCE for trespass, nuisance, premises liability, violations of the state electric codes, and importantly, for negligence.

There are 1,846 people who live inside Malibu city limits who have filed active claims against Edison, even though the Palisades Fire started on Los Angeles Department of Water and Power equipment outside of Malibu.

Their claim is that SCE's haphazard wooden poles along Pacific Coast Highway spread the fire west up the beach.

Edison spokesman David Eisenhauer told the Los Angeles Daily Journal that the power company still does not concede any liability for damages from the Palisades Fire. That's unlike SCE's stand in Altadena, where the company has conceded that its equipment caused the Eaton Fire and they're already paying out damages there.

A lawyer for the Malibu fire victims tells KBUU the power company is still a defendant and has not been removed from liability. Ellen Wolf tells KBUU the court only ruled on certain theories. The ruling, she says, was that plaintiffs outside the Edison service area cannot sue Edison for damage caused by its downed poles inside the Edison service area.

Wolf tells KBUU that Malibu fire victims "have strong legal basis against various defendants, and especially against the state of California and city of Los Angeles, who bear the main weight of responsibility for all damages."

But Southern California Edison is not off the hook. Its decrepit power lines in eastern Malibu may have helped spread the fire, and under the theory of joint and severable liability, Edison could be liable for damages in Malibu as well.