A fast-moving wildfire burning through the Texas Panhandle region in Texas, United States on February 29, 2024. The US state of Texas issued a disaster declaration as massive wildfires continued to burn out of control, forcing thousands of residents to evacuate their homes.Photo:Greenville Firefighter Association/ Handout /Anadolu via Getty
Greenville Firefighter Association/ Handout /Anadolu via Getty
According to Juan Rodriguez, a public information officer with the service, investigators have completed their investigation into the cause of the Smokehouse Creek fire and the Windy Deuce fire,Texas Standardreported.“In this case, we saw winds that were over 60 and 70 miles an hour. And so when the winds are doing that, driving down the roadways, you can just see power lines just bouncing up and down,” Rodriguez said. “It’s bound to cause one of these power lines to fail or something like that. So, you know, one of them or some of them may have fallen or just got out just due to the sheer wind.”
According to theTexas A&M Forest Service, the fire has burned more than one million acres of land since it began on Feb. 26.
As of Friday morning, the blaze was 87% contained, according to fire officials. At least two people have died from the fire, according toCNNandthe Associated Press.
Xcel Energy said it “has been cooperating with the investigations into the wildfires and has been conducting its own review.”
Forty-seven homes in Hemphill County and upwards of 17 homes in Roberts County were lost in the Smokehouse Creek fire, Xcel Energy said. A number of homes in Hutchinson County were also lost in the Smokehouse Creek fire, as well as the Windy Deuce fire, which is burning simultaneously.
A utility crew repairs damaged power lines following the Smokehouse Creek Fire in Fritch, Texas, US, on Saturday, March 2, 2024. Texas emergency crews are battling the worst wildfire in state history amid forecasts for several more days of dry, windy weather that will make their task more difficult.Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg via Getty
Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg via Getty
Xcel Energy “does not believe that its facilities caused the ignition of the Windy Deuce fire.”
A Stinnett homeowner has filed a lawsuit against Xcel Energy, in which she claimed a fallen power pole ignited the blaze, CNN and the AP reported.
The woman accused the companies of failing to “properly inspect, maintain, and replace” the pole, which she claimed “snapped off at its base” the day the fire began.
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Mikal Watts, the woman’s attorney, told CNN that “fire patterns” were used to track the pole back to Xcel Energy and a subcontractor. During an inspection on Wednesday, the pole was found to be “heavily degraded” and “should have been removed from service long ago,” Watts said, per the AP.
The attorney did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Xcel Energy — which “has operated in the Texas Panhandle for more than 100 years,” according to Frenzel — pushed back against “claims that it acted negligently in maintaining and operating its infrastructure.”
In the meantime, Xcel Energy is encouraging those who lost property or livestock in the Smokehouse Creek wildfire to submit a claim, which the company said will be reviewed and responded to “in an expeditious manner.”
The company also promised to continue working with regulators and policymakers “to evaluate the evolving nature of the wildfire risk and advance effective wildfire mitigation strategies” to help protect the public.
“As longstanding members of the west Texas community, we will continue to support our neighbors in this recovery,” Xcel Energy said.
source: people.com
