Former Pasadena track star among residents to sue SoCal Edison after Eaton fire destroyed his home

Walt Butler is known to former neighbors around Altadena as a track star, car lover, gardener and community leader. For years, local residents routinely greeted the 83-year-old while walking their dogs past his home in the 2900 block of Santa Anita Avenue as he tended to his garden or worked on one of his classic cars.

But those comforting neighborhood encounters vanished suddenly on Jan. 7 when Butler, along with scores of others, lost his home when the devastating Eaton fire swept through the community.

In response Tuesday, Butler and two other L.A. County residents, Luis Gonzalez and Denise Diaz Gonzalez, became part of a growing cadre of former Altadena residents to take legal action against Southern California Edison, claiming the utility’s equipment caused the blaze that destroyed their homes and thousands of other structures and killed at least 17 people.

More than a dozen other fire victims have filed lawsuits against the utility so far.

Butler, Gonzalez and Diaz Gonzales are represented by attorneys with L.A. Fire Justice, a coalition that has represented thousands of victims affected by wildfires, including the Camp and Lahaina fires, in lawsuits against utilities.

Doug Boxer, an attorney and the son of former California Sen. Barbara Boxer, is leading the coalition along with consumer advocate Erin Brockovich and trial attorney Mikal Watts. They are claiming the utility committed negligence and violated the public utilities code and health and safety code, among other allegations.

Southern California Edison’s investigation into whether or not its equipment sparked the fire is ongoing, said Kathleen Dunleavy, a spokesperson for the utility.

“It’s disappointing,” Dunleavy said Tuesday, “that plaintiffs’ attorneys appear to immediately approach the media when they should be sharing information with the authorities.”

Butler, who grew up in Pasadena, broke records as a runner at Pasadena High School, coached track and field at his alma mater, Pasadena City College, and ran Walt Butler Sport Shoes, where he sells and donates shoes to community members. On Jan. 7, when the Eaton fire broke out, Butler noticed the moon glowing a deep red. He tried to sleep, but he felt the wind shake his home and saw ash falling from the sky.

Wearing only his underwear, Butler ran from the home he had lived in since 1971.

“That was the race of my life,” said Butler, who in 2014 was inducted into the USA Track and Field Master’s Hall of Fame.

Butler’s girlfriend picked him up, and he slept 11 hours that night in a Ralph’s parking lot.

The Eaton fire destroyed his home and a lifetime of memories, including the awards he had collected since middle school and a contract Butler said he signed to play for the Denver Broncos years ago.

“I don’t mean to be a wimp,” he said through tears Tuesday, “but my whole life was there. All of my awards, my cars, everything.”

Allegations contained in the lawsuit are based in part of photos, videos and witness accounts. Staff with L.A. Fire Justice used photogrammetry to create a 3D model that showed the start of the Eaton fire. The digital recreation showed the blaze began below and around SCE transmission lines, a transmission tower and other equipment owned by the utility, Watts said in a presentation to media last week.

SCE’s equipment either made contact with dry vegetation or caused sparks to hit vegetation at the base of the transmission towers, igniting the wildfire, the lawsuit claims. After ignition, the Eaton fire moved downhill and grew to more than 14,000 acres.

Lawyers with L.A. Fire Justice claim the fire began because SCE created a utility infrastructure that passed electricity through exposed power lines that were near isolated areas with dry vegetation, failed to de-energize its power lines amid a red flag warning that brought strong winds and high fire threats to the area.

The utility also acted negligently by not using appropriate equipment and procedures to lower the risk of a wildfire in the Eaton fire area, including planned power shutoff inspections or de-energization in areas where winds were expected to be particularly high and removal of de-energized towers that were near other equipment in high wind areas, according to the lawsuit.

It also failed to properly inspect, repair, maintain and operate electrical equipment, create an appropriate distance between equipment and vegetation and use safety equipment that would prevent utility lines from touching each other or immediately de-energize the line if they had, the lawsuit said.

Butler, Gonzalez and Diaz Gonzalez lost personal property and enjoyment of that property but are also dealing with expenses related to the fire, including expenses for alternative living arrangements, evacuation, personal injuries and medical bills as well as lost wages, loss of earning capacity and business income and emotional distress, the lawsuit claimed.

While insurance plans might cover the cost of property that residents had in their homes, Boxer said it won’t be enough to rebuild a home.

“Everyone in this community has suffered great emotional distress and will continue to do so,” Boxer said. “We, as lawyers, will seek compensation for that emotional distress. Money can’t bring back your emotional well-being.”

L.A. Fire Justice is working with Pastor B.J. King, who runs Loveland Life Center in Altadena, to help residents find resources that he feels will help the community rather than take advantage of them in the aftermath of the Eaton fire.

He encouraged community members to research any lawyer or company offering them assistance and take their time before signing any documents to work with them.

“Get in touch with these people,” King said, “ask the hard questions and make sure that you hire somebody who’s going to make sure that your family is going to be made whole again.”