The Pacific Palisades and Eaton Fires Unusual Circumstances
Introduction
Now that the flames are out, and the story of both the Pacific Palisades and Eaton fires moves into the next phase of clean-up and repair, the following unusual occurrences presented in this article have been noted for your review.
Interesting Discovery in the Pacific Palisades Fire:
The alleged point of origin for this fire is located near a popular hiking trail known as Skull Rock. Skull Rock is located on the Temescal Ridge trail near the Pacific Palisades. In addition to the Pacific Palisades, the fire also damaged the communities of Topanga and Malibu2. At the Skull Rock location two separate fires were reported. The initial fire took place on January 1, 2025, and is thought to be the result of fireworks being set off with no regard as to the consequences. The second fire was reported on January 7, 2025, and is thought to have taken place when a fire was lit underground and continued to burn until becoming visible at ground level on January 8, 2025, which led to one of most devastating fires in California history.
Large Number of Fires in Italy with Similar Circumstances:
According to Wildfire News and Opinion wildfiretoday.com the following is reported:
“Italy has seen massive recent increases in both burned areas and the total number of fires, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).
The nation had abnormally high numbers throughout its 2023, 2021, 2017 and 2007 wildfire seasons, EFFIS’ annual statistics show. The vast majority of fires and burned areas between 2002 and 2023 happened in Sicily, around 77% of which were arson, and new research has uncovered a likely cause: the mafia.
Italian officials in both 2021 and 2023 believed the wildfires were intentionally set, according to a new paper from the University of California, Berkeley, published in the Criminology & Criminal Justice scientific journal. The mayor of Polizzi Generosa said the region was “under attack” in 2021, while Palermo’s mayor said the increase in fires suggested “malicious acts…of absolute wickedness.”
While the Fires Burned, the Insurance Commissioner was in Bermuda:
“Ricardo Lara was in Bermuda at a conference instead of attending the first meeting of the year to tackle the insurance crisis. California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara was on a work-related trip in Bermuda instead of attending an oversight hearing in Sacramento this week.”
Regarding this occurrence the question is not that going to the event in Bermuda was wrong, as the issues discussed can be related to the California Insurance situation, but while the Commissioner was in route to the conference, at the conference and coming home from the conference, Southern California was still on fire and the Commissioner was not here where he belonged. The fire damage to Pacific Palisades and Altadena were far more important.
Your comments and questions are welcomed.
Respectfully Submitted,
Norman Lambe
nwlambe@gmail.com
Something to keep in mind about these fires (and most if not all of the other urban/suburban conflagrations we have suddenly seen around the US in recent years) is the extreme high wind conditions that coincided with them, and the high number of faults in the electrical grid that accompany those high winds. According to the news reports I have seen, there were over 600 faults in the electrical grid in those areas of Southern California in the hours just prior to and during these fires.
There is a massive body of documentation on the known electrical design flaws in smart meters, and a plethora of evidence making it clear that numerous simultaneous smart meter explosions and electrical fires have occurred in different areas where there were power surges in the electrical grid. We also know, of course, that utility companies have a well documented history of removing evidence of damaged smart meters which have triggered fires.
There is now a consistent pattern of local authorities restricting residents' access to their property for a period of weeks in the aftermath of these conflagrations, which of course provides the utility companies the perfect opportunity to remove smart meters when there are no witnesses present.
Good blog, Norman, thanks for keeping after this issue. Here is what I have included in the National Call for Safe Technology smart meter on this issue (as well as a ton of other information on about ten different smart meter electrical design flaws that are know to cause fires):
Removal of evidence by utilities after smart meter fires
Removing meters and hampering investigations A fire scene is essentially a crime scene and must be preserved pending investigation by fire personnel. However, PG&E and other utility companies are usually very quick to respond to incidents and pull off the meter and take it away. They often arrive at the fire scene before the fire department. Utility personnel do not let investigators examine meters, and they have even questioned the fire department’s authority to have the meter.
From Nevada:
In some cases, fire investigators who did respond had difficulty confiscating the burned meters as evidence.
"I notified (the NV Energy employee) that the smart meter remains were evidence for the investigation and would be logged in at the Sparks Police Department for investigation hold," the Sparks investigator on a fire on Windswept Drive wrote. "(He) asked under what authority we have to keep their property."22
From Quebec:
Quebec City’s fire department says Hydro-Québec has been too quick to remove smart meters from the scenes of fires where faulty wiring may be an issue. The fire department says the meters are sometimes gone before investigators can look at them to find out whether their wires might have been damaged, which could lead to a short circuit and a fire.
“A fire is considered a crime scene and at a crime scene, evidence should be left alone,” said France Voiselle, a department spokeswoman. But Patrice Lavoie, a spokesman for Hydro-Québec, said the meters belong to the public utility and the meters don't cause fires. “We are totally entitled to bring them back to our office,” he said.
Insurance adjuster Norman Lambe, New Mexico Public Regulatory Commission:
“Q. What are some of the issues that have arisen from "smart" meter-caused fires?
A. In cases of fire involving "smart" meters, by the time a representative from the insurance company arrives at the scene, the utility has already responded, usually during the course of the local fire department’s fire suppression efforts. Utility companies commonly remove the "smart" meter that had malfunctioned and/or ignited prior to completion of the necessary investigation into the cause of the fire. This hampers my ability to see that a proper investigation is performed for insurance purposes. This also complicates the job of Fire Marshals and/or fire department investigators. This may potentially also lead to a misdiagnosis by fire departments and insurance agencies and an undercounting of the total number of "smart" meters caused fires.
Utility companies have kept the "smart" meters, claiming that they are the company’s property, and they can do with them as they please. It can take me several months, if not years, to obtain the "smart" meter that is believed to be the same one involved in, and the primary cause of a particular fire. Thus, the timeframe required to perform the requisite analysis is substantially extended. Consequently, fires caused by "smart" meters can be extremely challenging to investigate and resolve.
(Claim number 2015-2031-77A) This case exemplifies the difficulty that we encounter when trying to obtain access to "smart" meters in order to perform a proper investigation. We still have not been permitted the opportunity to inspect the meter by Nevada Energy. Residents stated that the "smart" meter exploded. The inability to access the meters in "smart" meter fire cases is a consistent problem…(Re: Friars Village Shopping Mall) Please note that as of the date of this testimony, more than two years later, we have not yet been able to gain access to our insured’s "smart" meter in order to perform the requisite investigation.”4,
A fire broke out at a home In Firebaugh, California:
[Jose] Valdez and his family ran out and firefighters had already started pouring water on the house. He noticed several PG&E employees got there almost as quickly, and he says one of them removed the smart meter while the firefighters worked. Firebaugh's fire chief saw it too. He says he [has] never seen that before, but he thinks he knows why they may have wanted the device.
“Investigation after the fire was put out revealed that in all probability the fire was caused by a problem in the electrical panel and the problem in the electrical panel, in my belief, was the Smart Meter that was installed in the panel by PG&E,” said John Borboa.39
In Nevada:
The investigation files also offer evidence that the meter blazes could be more widespread than even fire investigators know. In the reports, NV Energy employees on the scenes of two of the fires told investigators that such blazes happened regularly.
In an interview last week, an electrician who helps NV Energy replace the meters told the Reno Gazette-Journal that often meters would be fixed before the fire department could even be called. The RGJ has withheld his name because he continues to do work for NV Energy and didn't want to put his employment at risk. “NV Energy was so quick in having me or one of the other guys out there that the fire department never knew about them,” he said. “We'd have the panel changed out and power turned on within five hours and a guy painting the wall right behind us.”
He said that he's fixed 15 or 16 burned-out meters in the past two years in Reno, Sparks and Gardnerville. "The fire department was never called on most of them. I only saw the fire department on two or three of them," he said.
Another worker on scene at that fire told Sparks investigators he "has been replacing about two smart meters a month that have failed and caused damage to the residential or commercial buildings. NV Energy collects all the damaged smart meters and has not admitted to the problems with them," he told investigators, according to the report.22
This situation is likely illegal, and utility workers and IBEW members are participating in the cover-up. At a fire in June 2013, an NV Energy trouble technician told firefighters that exploding smart meters were a "big problem," and that trouble technicians and meter technicians have opted out of having them installed on their own homes — which they did out of safety concerns as well as in protest to NV Energy's decision to lay off meter readers once the smart meters were installed.4
Recommendation:
The legislature should approve a regulation requiring all evidence – including smart meters and other utility owned property – to remain on the scene of the fire or in the possession of the local fire or police department until an investigation is completed and a determination of the cause of the fire has been made. This regulation should include criminal penalties for the removal of evidence from a fire scene until the investigation is completed.
The goal is to kill, maim and disrupt society. Their success is significant in these goals.