The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a pair of lawsuits against Southern California Edison seeking at least $77 million in damages and accusing the company of negligence in relation to this year’s Eaton fire and the Fairview fire of 2022 , authorities said Thursday, Sept. 4.

The government is seeking more than $40 million in damages for the Eaton fire, and $37 million in damages for the Fairview fire. Those funds are what the U.S. estimated it spent on fighting those blazes and for the damage suffered to federal property, including fire-detection facilities, service roads, hiking trails and campsites in both the Angeles and San Bernardino national forests.

“The lawsuits filed today allege a troubling pattern of negligence resulting in death, destruction, and tens of millions of f

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