Southern California Edison announced a compensation program for Eaton Fire victims on Wednesday. 

The utilities company will launch the voluntary program in the fall. It will provide direct payments for commercial property loss, business interruption, total and partial structure loss, smoke and ash damage, as well as physical injury and death. Even if they are not SoCal Edison customers, owners and renters can participate. SoCal Edison plans to release more details on eligibility requirements later this summer. 

The program is expected to last through 2026. SoCal Edison said it will not charge application fees, administrative costs or legal fees to participate.

"Community members shouldn't have to wait for the final conclusions in the Eaton Fire investigation to get the financial support they need to begin rebuilding," said Pedro J. Pizarro, president and CEO of Edison International, SCE's parent company. "Even though the details of how the Eaton Fire started are still being evaluated, SCE will offer an expedited process to pay and resolve claims fairly and promptly. This allows the community to focus more on recovery instead of lengthy, expensive litigation."

The Eaton Fire ignited on Jan. 7 in the hillsides above Altadena, Pasadena and Sierra Madre. Amid a Santa Ana storm that produced 100 mph wind gusts, the flames quickly moved into the nearby communities and burned a little more than 14,000 acres. It is the second most destructive fire in California history, after destroying 9,418 buildings. 

SoCal Edison is facing several lawsuits from Eaton Fire victims as well as Los Angeles County and the city of Pasadena. 

The lawsuits allege that, despite warnings of potentially dangerous conditions, the Eaton Fire ignited below a SoCal Edison transmission tower. Attorneys in the lawsuits said those allegations are supported by evidence from photos, video footage and witness statements. 

One of the attorneys representing victims, Richard Bridgford, urged residents to be cautious about the program. 

"Their supposed fund is woefully lacking in detail," Bridgford wrote in a statement. "There's good reason for that: it's designed to vastly underpay the victims the true legal damages they are entitled to in a lawsuit."

Bridgford said that in his firm's experience, similar programs have paid out far less than the cost of rebuilding.

"In our experience, such funds have resulted in largely ignoring emotional distress, nuisance, and annoyance damages, alternative, living expense, lost plants and trees, and the true value of personal property while severely underestimating the price per square foot to rebuild," Bridgford wrote. "In our experience, providing $.40 on the dollar or less of the true cost to rebuild in today's dollars."

SoCal Edison said individuals and businesses who have filed a lawsuit against the company can participate in the program.