Los Angeles, California - Los Angeles County on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against a local power company for damages from the deadly Eaton fire in January.

The lawsuit alleges that the Southern California Edison and Edison International's (SCE) equipment "caused the deadly blaze, requiring the County to incur massive costs responding to the fire and its aftermath," LA County said in a statement.

The Eaton fire was put out after burning through an area of nearly 22 square miles near Pasadena and Altadena in January. The blaze resulted in 17 deaths and destroyed around 9,400 buildings.

In the complaint, the plaintiffs refer to eyewitnesses, photos, and video surveillance camera footage that allegedly indicate that the fire started under SCE transmission lines in Eaton Canyon.

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After the fire started, SCE informed the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) that a "fault" occurred on its transmission line around the time the fire started on January 7, according to the suit.

The local authority said the fire and its aftermath are estimated to cost it "at least hundreds of millions of dollars."

The Palisades fire on the western edge of Los Angeles and the Eaton fire near Pasadena and Altadena have together destroyed more than 16,200 buildings, according to official estimates. The number of confirmed deaths is 29.

The fire department was on the scene for weeks to contain the fires, which were repeatedly fanned by strong winds.