Officials with a utility company say they believe the deadly Thomas brush fire in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties was triggered in at least two spots, and that their equipment is responsible for at least one of them.
Southern California Edison officials say they think the fire was the result of at least two ignition points in the Santa Paula area.
They say one spot was in the Anlauf Canyon area, and the other was near Koenigstein Road. In a statement, SCE says based on witness statements, they think their equipment is responsible for the Koenigstein Road ignition.
The company notes that because CAL FIRE has removed SCE equipment for the official fire investigation, it can’t confirm if its gear is responsible for additional fire starts.
The blaze started December 4th during extremely high wind conditions. More than 280,000 acres of land burned, two people died, and more than a thousand homes were destroyed in the blaze. It also set the stage for January’s deadly Montecito debris flow, which killed 23 people and destroyed more than a hundred homes.
Ventura County Fire officials say they can’t comment on the SCE report until the official investigation into the cause of the Thomas Fire is complete. They say the report is almost done and should be released soon.
