Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles Thursday sued Southern California Edison over its alleged role in the devastating Eaton and Fairview fires, which burned tens of thousands of acres of National Forest lands, killed a total of 21 people, and destroyed thousands of buildings.

Both fires damaged federal government-owned land and property. The lawsuits seek to recover tens of millions of dollars in costs due to fire suppression and rehabilitation of national forest property.

“The lawsuits filed today allege a troubling pattern of negligence resulting in death, destruction, and tens of millions of federal taxpayer dollars spent to clean up one utility company’s mistakes,” Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement. “We hope that today’s filings are the first step in causing the be

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