An electric company has acknowledged that it played a role in the single biggest wildfire in Texas history.
“Based on currently available information, Xcel Energy acknowledges that its facilities appear to have been involved in an ignition of the Smokehouse Creek fire,” the company admitted on Thursday, according to The Texas Tribune.
Earlier in the week, a woman named Melanie McQuiddy filed a lawsuit against Southwestern Public Service Company, a subsidiary of Xcel Energy, claiming a falling utility pole caused the Smokehouse Creek fire in the Texas Panhandle that burned her house down.
The lawsuit claims that Osmose Utilities Services, the company responsible for examining the poles for Southwestern Public Service, was also irresponsible in its inspection.
The lawsuit alleges that due to a “rotten pole” that the firm “failed to properly inspect, maintain, and replace,” the pole fell, which resulted in the “powered utility lines [hitting] the ground, igniting a fire, which spread quickly into an uncontrollable conflagration,” according to CBS News Texas.
Osmose CEO Mike Adams stated, “Osmose takes these allegations extremely seriously. We immediately launched an in-depth investigation, and we are committed to fully cooperating with any other local investigations into the cause of the fire. We stand by the quality and accuracy of our utility pole inspections.”
Xcel Energy encouraged victims of the Smokehouse Creek fire who have lost property or livestock to file a claim through the company.
Gov. Greg Abbott released a press release stating that the wildfires in the Texas Panhandle have affected more than a million acres. The Smokehouse Creek fire in Hutchinson County alone has affected 1.3 million acres.
“The safety and well-being of impacted Texans is our No.1 priority as the potential for more dangerous wildfires persists in the coming days,” stated the governor in the press release.
“We urge Texans to continue to heed the guidance of state and local officials and utilize tools that have been made available by the Texas Division of Emergency Management and local partners. I thank our brave firefighters and first responders who are risking their lives and working around-the-clock [sic] to protect their fellow Texans during this time of crisis,” added Abbott.
