SANTA ANA, Calif. — The state forestry department has sued Southern California Edison and T-Mobile USA, alleging equipment failures caused the 12,466-acre Silverado fire in 2020, displacing 90,000 residents in south Orange County.
The lawsuit filed Thursday by the California Department of Forestry said arcing between a 12,000-volt electrical conductor operated by Edison and a communication line assembly belonging to T-Mobile ignited the wildfire in the early morning of Oct. 26, 2020.
Fueled by 80-mph gusts, the blaze that began at Santiago Canyon Road and Silverado Canyon Road damaged 16 structures, threatened 1,314 more and critically injured two Orange County Fire Authority firefighters, the suit states. The fast moving fire spread to Irvine and Lake Forest and took nearly two weeks to contain.
