(NewsNation) — Utility provider Xcel Energy issued a statement Thursday saying its facilities were apparently involved in the ignition of the largest wildfire in Texas history.
The Smokehouse Creek fire, one of multiple blazes that affected the Texas Panhandle and parts of Oklahoma last week, burned nearly 1,700 square miles, prompted evacuation orders, killed cattle and destroyed hundreds of structures. Texas A&M Forest Service says its investigators concluded that power lines ignited the Smokehouse Creek and Windy Deuce fires.
Xcel said it has been cooperating with investigations into the wildfires, and conducting its own review, which is how it came to its conclusion on Smokehouse Creek.
“Xcel Energy disputes claims that it acted negligently in maintaining and operating its infrastructure; however, we encourage people who had property destroyed by or livestock lost in the Smokehouse Creek fire to submit a claim to Xcel Energy through our claims process,” the company said. “We will review and respond to any such claims in an expeditious manner, with a priority on claims from any person that lost their home in the Smokehouse Creek fire.”
In its statement, though, Xcel denied its facilities caused the Windy Deuce fire to ignite.
A lawsuit against Xcel Energy Services Inc. and two other utilities filed on behalf of a Stinnett resident, Melanie McQuiddy, alleges the Smokehouse Creek fire started “when a wooden pole defendants failed to properly inspect, maintain and replace, splintered and snapped off at its base.”
Attorney Mikal Watts, who is representing McQuiddy, said on “NewsNation Live” that he has “conclusive evidence” that the cause of the fire was a pole that should have been replaced, but ultimately was not. This is the same thing that happened in Hawaii last year, starting a fire that killed over 100, said Watts, who is also representing plaintiffs in that case.
The Texas pole snapped in high winds Feb. 26, Watts said.
Instead of getting a temporary restraining order against Xcel, they were allowed to go out to where the pole was excavated from the ground, Watts said.
“It’s clearly rotted in the middle, and it snapped in high winds,” he said. “That evidence is consistent with what we already knew from Google Earth images.”
Drone footage, Watts said, shows a downed pole and indications the fire started along utility lines.
Along with McQuiddy, Watts said many ranchers have also “lost everything.”
“It looks like something out of Dresden in 1944,” Watts said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.