Energy company acknowledges involvement in igniting Texas wildfire

Xcel Energy said in a statement Thursday that its facilities appeared to have been involved in sparking what’s now the largest wildfire in Texas history, the Smokehouse Creek wildfire. However, the company denied any negligence in “maintaining and operating its infrastructure” and denied involvement in sparking the Windy Deuce wildfire. Xcel encouraged people to submit claims to the company if they “had property destroyed by or livestock lost in the Smokehouse Creek fire.” Xcel President and CEO Bob Frenzel described the Texas Panhandle community as “our friends, neighbors, and relatives,” saying the company is “committed to supporting its renewal and recovery.”

Is there more detail on how the fire started? Xcel did not share how its facilities played a role in lighting the fire in the statement. However, a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last week shows a law firm requested that Xcel preserve “a fallen SPS utility pole” near the fire’s origin for insurance purposes.

Are the fires still burning? Texas A&M Forest Service reported on Wednesday that just over a million acres have been burned from the Smokehouse Creek fire in Hutchinson County, which is currently 44 percent contained. The Windy Deuce Fire in Moore County was at 81 percent containment after burning nearly 150,000 acres. The Grape Vine Creek fire in Gray County reached 77 percent containment after burning nearly 35,000 acres. The Forest Service also confirmed that the Oldham County Magenta Fire had reached 100 percent containment on Tuesday after burning a little over 3,000 acres.

Dig deeper: Listen to Mary Reichard’s report on The World and Everything In It podcast about the Smokehouse Creek fire.