Thursday, January 29, 2026

Pasadena’s Historic Jewish Temple Sues Edison Over Eaton Fire Destruction

The Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center burned during the Eaton Fire on January 8, 2025. [Eddie Rivera/Pasadena Now]

The 104-year-old congregation lost its sanctuary, preschool and community buildings in the blaze

The Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, a century-old congregation that lost its sanctuary, preschool and community buildings in the Eaton Fire, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Southern California Edison alleging the utility’s negligence caused the blaze that destroyed its two-acre campus, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, claims Edison failed to de-energize its transmission lines despite red flag warnings and left in place a decommissioned line that had not carried electricity for decades. The complaint cites Edison’s maintenance backlog and alleges the utility’s electrical infrastructure “was improperly inspected, maintained, repaired, and otherwise operated, which foreseeably led to the Eaton Fire’s ignition.”

The fire destroyed the only Conservative Jewish synagogue in the western San Gabriel Valley. Congregation members who raced to save what they could on the night of January 7, 2025, were able to rescue the temple’s sacred Torah scrolls. Everything else on the property—the historic sanctuary acquired in 1941, the preschool that had served families since 2014, the classrooms and social hall—was lost.

“Our congregation has been without a physical home for more than a year, at a time when our members had the deepest need for refuge and healing,” Senior Rabbi Joshua Ratner said in a statement. “While we’ve continued to gather and support one another, the loss is deeply felt.”

The lawsuit comes just weeks after about 400 congregants gathered at the razed temple site for a one-year commemoration ceremony—the first time members had returned together to the property since the fire. Since January 2025, the congregation has held services at First United Methodist Church in Pasadena.

Edison did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit, according to the Los Angeles Times, which first reported the filing.

The temple’s lawsuit adds to a wave of litigation against Edison over the Eaton Fire. The utility faces 998 lawsuits from victims and government entities, including suits by the City of Pasadena, Los Angeles County, and the U.S. Department of Justice. Edison has acknowledged that circumstantial evidence suggests one of its idled high-voltage transmission lines may have ignited the fire amid winds that exceeded 100 mph.

Edison has launched a voluntary compensation program for fire victims who agree not to sue. Under California law, settlements are expected to be covered largely by a state wildfire fund created in 2019 to shield the state’s largest utilities from bankruptcy if their equipment ignites catastrophic fires.

The Eaton Fire killed 19 people and destroyed more than 9,400 structures, making it the fifth-deadliest and second-most destructive wildfire in California history. It burned 14,021 acres before being fully contained on January 31, 2025, after 24 days.

The congregation was incorporated in 1921 as Temple B’nai Israel. It purchased the Mission Revival-style building on North Altadena Drive in 1941, where it served hundreds of Jewish families for more than 80 years.

“We are devastated, but we will rebuild,” temple leadership wrote in a message to congregants after the fire. “The sanctuary is temporary. Our community is for all time.”