Southern California Edison offers millions to victims of deadly Eaton Fire

Los Angeles, California – Nearly ten months after the Eaton Fire tore through eastern Los Angeles County, killing 19 people and leaving thousands homeless, survivors are facing a new kind of uncertainty — this time, not from wind or flame, but from a corporate offer that could determine the rest of their lives.

On Wednesday, Southern California Edison unveiled a sweeping plan to compensate victims of the January blaze, offering hundreds of thousands — in some cases, millions — of dollars to those who lost homes, loved ones, and livelihoods. The company’s offer comes even as state investigators have not formally determined the cause of the fire, though evidence points to a decommissioned power line owned by the utility.

The new program promises to cover both economic and emotional losses. Families who lost a home can receive up to $115,000 per adult and $75,000 per child, while a surviving spouse of someone killed in the fire could receive $2 million. Victims have until November 2026 to decide whether to take the payout — and waive their right to sue — or pursue a potentially larger, drawn-out legal battle.

For many families, that decision has become a painful calculation: immediate relief versus uncertain justice.

Lauren Randolph, whose Altadena home was reduced to ashes, said she and her husband have spent months agonizing over what to do. “There have been a lot of people — lawyers — who say, ‘Take Edison for everything you can get,’” she said. “But how much more, in theory, would we actually get? And is that really worth it?”

Randolph’s family had poured their savings into the home they bought in 2018, repainting a backyard gate in rainbow colors for their daughter’s fifth birthday — the only piece that survived the fire.

The Eaton Fire, fueled by record winds and drought-dried brush, scorched the foothill town of Altadena, destroying thousands of structures and displacing entire neighborhoods. It became one of the deadliest and most destructive urban wildfires in state history — another reminder of how vulnerable California’s aging electrical grid has become in a warming climate.

To manage the program, Edison enlisted Kenneth Feinberg and Camille Biros, the experts who oversaw compensation funds for victims of the 9/11 attacks and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Feinberg called the plan “an opportunity for swift, fair compensation,” but lawyers for victims remain skeptical, calling it a legal trap meant to limit the company’s liability.

“This is pennies on the dollar,” said attorney Kipp Mueller, who represents several survivors. “It signals they know they’d have to pay far more in court.”

Some victims say even a generous payout can’t repair what was lost. Zella Knight, 62, whose family has lived in West Altadena since the Jim Crow era, said her community — once a stable enclave for Black families — may never recover. “We’ve lost our elders, our routines, our sense of place,” she said. “Nothing can really compensate for that.”

Southern California Edison insists the offer is voluntary and not an admission of guilt. CEO Pedro Pizarro acknowledged “concerning circumstantial evidence” that the company’s equipment may have sparked the fire but said the goal now is urgency. “Every month that goes by, people remain displaced,” he said. “This is about getting money into the community as fast as possible.”