Southern California Edison says it plans to create a compensation program for those affected by the deadly Eaton fire in January.

Set to launch this fall, the Wildlife Recovery Compensation Program will pay eligible victims for claims of injury, death, and property loss in an effort to curb lawsuits.

Investigators are still determining the fire's cause, but Southern California Edison has said the leading theory is that its transmission line started the blaze.

The 14,000-acre fire broke out in Altadena in early January, killing 19 people.

Southern California Edison is facing multiple lawsuits from those who lost loved ones, homes, and businesses.

The program seeks to cover losses for physical injury, death, structure losses for both owners and renters, business interruptions, loss of commercial property, and damage caused by smoke and ash, according to its website.

No specifics, including who's eligible, how much money the utility has set aside, whether ratepayers or shareholders will pay, and whether participants will be required to forego litigation, have been decided, said an Edison spokesperson.

He said those details won't be available until later this summer.

Some fire survivors and those advocating for them are skeptical.

Kiley Grombacher, co-founder of the California Fire Victims Law Center, is representing Eaton Fire survivors in several lawsuits.

She said by going through the utility's claims process instead of letting the legal system run its course, people could be leaving money on the table that they might otherwise be entitled to.

Grombacher said, "This is the way to get to people and get those claims cheaper instead of going through the legal system.

I'd hate to see Edison take advantage of people who have been put through this really catastrophic event and are at the lowest place in their lives."

For CalMatters, I'm Malena Carollo.