As the California wildfires come under control, litigation has begun to emerge over the cause of one of the blazes.

Lawsuits claim that the Eaton fire was sparked by electrical equipment owned by utility company Southern California Edison (SCE). This fire went on to kill 17 people and burned over 14,000 acres.

SCE, which services 15 million people, has filed an electrical safety incident report in relation to the fire. But, it said it only did so due to preservation notices and the media attention surrounding the situation.

“Analysis shows no interruptions or operational/electrical anomalies in the 12 hours prior to the fire’s reported start time until more than one hour after the reported start time of the fire,” the company said in a statement several days after the fire began.

According to the Los Angeles Times, a judge ordered SCE to preserve any data or evidence that may relate to the fire. This evidence could be crucial as mounting lawsuits blame the company and its equipment.

One lawsuit claims that security camera footage from a nearby gas station shows sparks and electrical arcs coming from SCE equipment. This event happened minutes before the Eaton fire blazed into existence in the same location.

Additionally, the New York Times reported that a resident of the area saw a bright white light before a fire formed at the base of the electrical tower. Numerous images of a fire burning directly beneath the tower have been included in lawsuits.

Lawsuits Claim SCE Was Unprepared for Fire Conditions

A key point in lawsuits filed so far has been SCE’s reaction to warnings that high winds would impact the area where the fire eventually started.

Days before the fire, the National Weather Service warned that wind gusts as high as 80 to 100 miles per hour were forecasted.

Lawsuits claim that, despite the warnings, SCE did not take proper precautions for the high fire risk.

“Eaton Canyon, being in the mountains of Los Angeles County, was at risk of 80-100 mph wind gusts and yet SCE decided to keep many parts of its distribution circuit in and near Eaton Canyon energized,” one lawsuit stated.

According to NBC News, a fault in the electrical network miles away caused a current surge in the power lines where the fire began. That surge was recorded just minutes before the start of the Eaton fire was reported. SCE, however, says this surge was within the system’s design limits.

The fire went on to have a devastating impact on the region, destroying over 9,000 structures, killing 17 people and injuring eight firefighters.

This is not the first time lawsuits have tied utility companies to serious fires. In August, multiple parties agreed on a $4 billion settlement for the devastating Maui fires. Hawaiian Electric was set to pay about $2 billion of that amount, according to CBS News.

Editor Lindsay Donaldson contributed to this article.