Hours before the Eaton fire, distribution lines failed and fire started in Altadena

toggle caption Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images

Almost nine months have passed since the Eaton fire blazed through neighborhoods of Los Angeles County in January, destroying more than 9,000 buildings and causing an estimated billions of dollars in damages.

Since then, dozens of lawsuits, including two filed by the U.S. Department of Justice, have blamed high power transmission lines managed by the utility company, Southern California Edison, for starting the flames. SoCal Edison acknowledges that its transmission equipment could have been associated with the ignition of a fire that started just after 6 p.m. on Jan. 7, when sparks were spotted near high power lines in Eaton Canyon, in the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains.

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By the end of January, when the fire was finally contained, Altadena was one of the neighborhoods most damaged. Almost all 19 of the people who died in the blaze perished in the neighborhood. But the community is miles away from Eaton Canyon, and satellite imagery shows that the Eaton fire front didn't cross into the western part of Altadena until after 5 a.m. the next day, according to a report commissioned by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

For months, amongst each other and in groups online, Altadena residents have wondered whether something else might have started fires earlier in their neighborhood. An NPR investigation now reveals that transmission lines were not the only kinds of electrical equipment that caused problems on Jan. 7.

Distribution lines that power individual homes malfunctioned in Altadena as early as 11 a.m., NPR found, and at least one fire linked to a problem with a distribution line started in Altadena hours before the sparks near Eaton Canyon. Throughout that morning and afternoon, firefighters were dispatched to different parts of Altadena to respond to problems with power lines.