SoCal Edison Reported Circuit Malfunction Minutes Before Woolsey Fire Began

Southern California Edison disclosed to state officials that a circuit operated by the electric company malfunctioned two minutes prior to the Woolsey fire’s eruption.

California Public Utilities Commission received a report via SCE on Thursday, which it says was filed “out of an abundance of caution,” detailing the incident. The utility giant told the agency a circuit located at its Chatsworth substation “relayed” at 2:22 p.m. The system failure occurred on East Street and Alfa Road, close to where the Woosley Fire started, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“At this point, we have no indication from fire agency personnel that SCE utility facilities may have been involved in the start of the fire,” according to the report. “The investigation into the matter is ongoing.”

The company has yet to gain access to the substation where the blaze started.

“During anticipated Red Flag conditions, when circuits in the affected area detect a disturbance (relay) and become de-energized, the circuit will not automatically be re-energized,” the company said “This means an outage remains until it is safe to manually re-energize the circuit. This is not a Public Safety Power Shutoff; it is simply a safety feature to help mitigate wildfire risk.”

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[Related: L.A. County Fire Chief Blames Woolsey Fire on ‘Extreme Climate Change’ ]