HOUSTON: A US power company on Thursday admitted that its equipment may have caused largest wildfire in Texas’ history.
Xcel Company, which provides electricity to some parts of the US southern state said it was working with officials probing the reason of the blaze that burnt more than a million acres.
The company in a statement said according to the available information, Xcel Energy acknowledges that its facilities apparently have been involved in causing Smokehouse Creek fire.
Hundreds of homes have been destroyed in the blaze, which is known to have killed at least two people and over 3,000 animals.
Xcel, which is facing a case in the court, rejected the repots that its equipment was improperly maintained.
The statement urged people whose property was destroyed or livestock lost in, the Smokehouse Creek blaze to submit a claim damages from Xcel Energy.
Hawaii’s Maui county last year started legal action against the island’s electricity provider over the deadly fire that razed the historic town of Lahaina. The blaze killed 100 people.
In California, the almost 1-million-acre Dixie fire of 2021 started after power lines of Pacific Gas and Electric company touched a tree.
A year earlier, the company pleaded guilty to more than 80 counts over the horrific Camp fire.
