Power lines ignited the largest wildfire in Texas history, officials say
Last edited Thu Mar 7, 2024, 04:42 PM - Edit history (3)
Source: AP
Updated 1:51 PM EST, March 7, 2024
Power lines ignited massive wildfires across the Texas Panhandle that destroyed homes and killed thousands of livestock, officials said Thursday, including the largest blaze in state history that the utility provider Xcel Energy said its equipment appeared to have sparked.
The Texas A&M Forest Service said its investigators have concluded that power lines ignited both the historic Smokehouse Creek fire, has burned nearly 1,700 square miles (4,400 square kilometers) and spilled into neighboring Oklahoma, and the nearby Windy Deuce fire, which has burned about 225 square miles (582 square kilometers). The statement did not elaborate on what led to the power lines igniting the blazes.
“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 utility provider stated.
The wildfires that ignited last week in the windswept rural area prompted evacuations in a handful of small communities, destroyed as many as 500 structures and killed at least two people.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/wildfires-texas-smokehouse-xcel-energy-22540df0a0c1d2c42a7fe0284858845a
Just breaking. Short article at post time.
Article now updated.
Previous articles/headlines -
Power lines ignited massive wildfires across the Texas Panhandle that destroyed homes and killed thousands of livestock, officials said Thursday, including the largest blaze in state history that the utility provider Xcel Energy said its equipment appeared to have sparked.
The Texas A&M Forest Service said its investigators have concluded that the Smokehouse Creek fire was ignited by power lines, as was the nearby Windy Deuce fire.
The utility provider Xcel Energy said Thursday that its equipment appeared to have played a role in igniting the Smokehouse Creek fire, though it did not believe its equipment was responsible for the Windy Deuce fire.
The Smokehouse Creek fire burned nearly 1,700 square miles (4,400 square kilometers) and destroyed hundreds of structures. The Minnesota-based company said in a statement that it disputes claims that "it acted negligently" in maintaining and operating infrastructure.
Updated 10:30 AM EST, March 7, 2024
CANADIAN, Texas (AP) -- The utility provider Xcel Energy said Thursday that its facilities appeared have played a role in igniting a massive wildfire in the Texas Panhandle that grew to the largest blaze in state history.
Texas officials have said they are still investigating the cause of the fire that has burned nearly 1,700 square miles (4,400 square kilometers) and destroyed hundreds of structures. The Minnesota-based company said in a statement that it disputes claims that "it acted negligently" in maintaining and operating infrastructure.
"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 said in a statement.
Electric utilities have taken responsibility for wildfires around the U.S., including fallen power lines that started a blaze in Maui last year. Transmission lines also sparked a massive California wildfire in 2019. The Texas fire was among a cluster of fires that ignited in the rural Panhandle last week and prompted evacuation orders in a handful of small communities.
Original article/headline -
Updated 10:18 AM EST, March 7, 2024
CANADIAN, Texas (AP) -- The utility provider Xcel Energy said Thursday that its facilities appeared have played a role in igniting a massive wildfire in the Texas Panhandle that grew to the largest blaze in state history.
Texas officials have said they are still investigating the cause of the fire that has burned nearly 1,700 square miles (4,400 square kilometers) and destroyed hundreds of structures. The Minnesota-based company said in a statement that it disputes claims that "it acted negligently" in maintaining and operating infrastructure.
"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 said in a statement.
The fire was among a cluster of fires that ignited in the rural Panhandle last week and prompted evacuation orders in a handful of small communities.
= new reply since forum marked as read
https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/wildfire/marshall-fire/marshal-fire-lawsuits/73-d134f663-565e-4390-abe3-3b5b62ecdaa9
snip...
The fire destroyed more than 1,000 homes and killed two people. The wildfire erupted late the morning of Dec. 30, 2021, and was fueled by hurricane-force winds as it raced across the county.
The investigation concluded that an intentionally set trash fire on property owned by a religious group known as Twelve Tribes was the initial point of origin for the Marshall Fire.
Roughly 40 minutes after that fire ignited, a second blaze began nearby, sparked by hot particles discharged from an Xcel Energy power line at the Marshall Mesa Trailhead, the investigation found.
I'll never forget that day. It was windy AF & we'd gone over six months with hardly any moisture & everything was crisp. 1000 homes burned to the ground in a matter of hours. The next day it snowed.
It's going to be really slow and they're not getting everywhere they should.
I have a PG&E easement behind my house. 2 Years ago a dead tree fell against the lines to my house. Ended up taking the power out from 7 house, damaged my neighbor's awning and fence. This was after my neighbor had been calling them about it for a long time and me calling them about it for months straight.... We were lucky it happened in November, so we didn't have a fire. They still haven't cleared the deadwood back there. If they're not going to maintain the area in the easement, they should underground the lines.... but they won't.
We did get a rate increase though... 
one of my sisters had her electric line ripped from the back of her house due to a neighbor's tree branch that cracked and fell on it (I think the tree was an Ash that was pretty much dead due to the Emerald Ash Borer). When the wire ripped off, it took out part of her siding with it. It was a mess to get it all repaired between the electric company and an electrical contractor who could repair some of the siding damage after rewiring. Way back when those houses were built in the '50s, the developers had the electric poles lined up along a creek at the base of their backyards on a township easement and trees had been planted along the creek to "hide" the poles. The wires were then swung some 125 ft across the yards to the homes.
Her neighbors across the street have their poles backing against the bottom of similarly tree-lined hill and their power goes out continually whenever there is some windy storm. 