What Ignited the Deadly California Wildfires? Investigators Consider an Array of Possibilities

 A helicopter drops water on the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP)
A helicopter drops water on the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP)
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What Ignited the Deadly California Wildfires? Investigators Consider an Array of Possibilities

 A helicopter drops water on the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP)
A helicopter drops water on the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP)

Investigators are considering an array of possible ignition sources for the huge fires that have killed at least 11 people and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses in the Los Angeles area.

In hilly, upscale Pacific Palisades, home to Hollywood stars like Jamie Lee Curtis and Billy Crystal who lost houses in the fire, officials have placed the origin of the wind-whipped blaze behind a home on Piedra Morada Drive, which sits above a densely wooded arroyo.

While lightning is the most common source of fires in the US, according to the National Fire Protection Association, investigators were able to rule that out quickly. There were no reports of lightning in the Palisades area or the terrain around the Eaton Fire, which started in east Los Angeles County and has also destroyed hundreds of homes.

The next two most common causes: fires intentionally set, and those sparked by utility lines.

John Lentini, owner of Scientific Fire Analysis in Florida, who has investigated large fires in California including the Oakland Hills Fire in 1991, said the size and scope of the blaze doesn’t change the approach to finding out what caused it.

“This was once a small fire,” Lentini said. “People will focus on where the fire started, determine the origin and look around the origin and determine the cause.”

So far there has been no official indication of arson in either blaze, and utility lines have not yet been identified as a cause either.

Utilities are required to report to the California Public Utilities Commission when they know of “electric incidents potentially associated with a wildfire,” Terrie Prosper, the commission's communications director, said via email. CPUC staff then investigate to see if there were violations of state law.

The 2017 Thomas Fire, one of the largest fires in state history, was sparked by Southern California Edison power lines that came into contact during high wind, investigators determined. The blaze killed two people and charred more than 440 square miles (1,140 square kilometers).

On Friday, Southern California Edison filed a report with the CPUC related to the Eaton Fire in the hills near Pasadena, an area the utility serves.

Edison said it has not received any suggestions that its equipment was involved in the ignition of that fire, but that it filed the report with state utilities regulators out of “an abundance of caution” after receiving evidence preservation notices from insurance company lawyers.

“Preliminary analysis by SCE of electrical circuit information for the energized transmission lines going through the area for 12 hours prior to the reported start time of the fire shows no interruptions or electrical or operational anomalies until more than one hour after the reported start time of the fire,” the utility reported.

While lightning, arson and utility lines are the most common causes, debris burning and fireworks are also common causes.

But fires are incited by myriad sources, including accidents.

In 2021, a couple's gender reveal stunt started a large fire that torched close to 36 square miles (about 90 square kilometers) of terrain, destroyed five homes and 15 other buildings and claimed the life of a firefighter, Charlie Morton.

The Eaton and Palisades fires were still burning with little containment on Friday. Winds softened, but there was no rain in the forecast as the flames moved through miles of dry landscape.

“It’s going to go out when it runs out of fuel, or when the weather stops,” Lentini said. “They’re not going to put that thing out until it’s ready to go out.”



Palestinians Hold Mixed Views as France Prepares to Recognize State

 Protesters hold a Palestinian flag during a protest in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, in Santiago, Chile July 25, 2025. (Reuters)
Protesters hold a Palestinian flag during a protest in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, in Santiago, Chile July 25, 2025. (Reuters)
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Palestinians Hold Mixed Views as France Prepares to Recognize State

 Protesters hold a Palestinian flag during a protest in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, in Santiago, Chile July 25, 2025. (Reuters)
Protesters hold a Palestinian flag during a protest in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, in Santiago, Chile July 25, 2025. (Reuters)

Palestinians expressed mixed opinions Friday after French President Emmanuel Macron said he would recognize a Palestinian state, with enthusiasm mitigated by the world’s failure to stem suffering in Gaza.

“We hope it will be implemented, and we hope that most or all countries around the world will follow France’s lead in recognizing the Palestinian people’s right to an independent state,” said Nabil Abdel Razek, a resident of Ramallah, home to the Palestinian Authority.

Under the 1993 Oslo Accords, the PA was intended to be a building bloc toward the establishment of a state.

At a newsagent in the central square of the West Bank city, several front-page headlines mentioned President Emmanuel Macron’s late Thursday evening announcement.

“All of these decisions not only affirm the rights of the Palestinian people, but also contribute to changing the violent reality in the region and lead to greater stability,” said Ahmed Ghoneim, a political activist, as he headed off to a demonstration in solidarity with Gaza.

Ghoneim said he also hopes France’s move will inspire other European countries, given that at least 142 of the 193 UN member states recognize a Palestinian state, according to an AFP tally.

But analysts are more cautious.

“The question for Palestinians is what will France do NOW about Israel starving them in Gaza,” Nour Odeh, a political commentator, wrote on X.

Others also agreed the main issue for Palestinians is Gaza.

“What France should have recognized is the genocide and taken measures to end it and end the occupation,” said Ines Abdel Razek, co-director of the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy (PIPD).

In an interview with AFP, she said France should cut relations with Israel and impose a trade embargo.

“An example of a brave gesture is the Colombian president asking his army to block boats transporting energy and arms to Israel,” she said.

While saying France’s promise is just “symbolic,” Samer Sinijlawi, another political activist, noted Macron’s call for elections in the Palestinian territories and said this “brings us hope.”