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		</div><p>Utility provider Xcel Energy has said that its facilities appear to have played a role in igniting a massive wildfire in the Texas Panhandle that grew to the largest blaze in state history.</p>
<p>Texas officials have said they are still investigating the cause of the fire that has burned nearly 1,700 square miles and destroyed hundreds of structures.</p>
<p>The Minnesota-based company said in a statement that it disputed claims “it acted negligently” in maintaining and operating infrastructure.</p>
<p>“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.</p>
<p>The Texas A&#038;M Forest Service said that its investigators have also concluded that the Smokehouse Creek fire was ignited by power lines, as was the nearby Windy Deuce fire.</p>
<p>Xcel Energy said it did not believe its facilities were responsible for the Windy Deuce fire.</p>
<p>Electric utilities have taken responsibility for wildfires around the US, including fallen power lines that started a blaze in Maui last year. Transmission lines also sparked a massive California wildfire in 2019.</p>
<p>The Smokehouse Creek 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. That wildfire, which also reached neighbouring Oklahoma, was about 44% contained as of Wednesday.</p>
<p>Officials said that as many as 500 structures may have been destroyed in the fires.</p>
<p>A lawsuit filed on Friday in Hemphill County alleged that a downed power line near the town of Stinnett on February 26 sparked the blaze.</p>
<figure id="attachment_181637" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-181637" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img src="https://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/5A45FFBF-B1F3-4ADE-A429-29BCD51B9469.webp" alt="" width="640" height="424" class="size-full wp-image-181637" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-181637" class="wp-caption-text">Xcel Energy workers begin replacing hundreds of power poles in Fritch, Texas</figcaption></figure>
<p>The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Stinnett homeowner Melanie McQuiddy against Xcel Energy Services and two other utilities, alleged the blaze started “when a wooden pole defendants failed to properly inspect, maintain and replace, splintered and snapped off at its base”.</p>
<p>Dale Smith, who operates a large cattle ranch east of Stinnett, said he lost an estimated 30 to 50 cows out of the 3,000 that graze on his property.</p>
<p>“We’re still trying to tally up the cattle losses,” Mr Smith said. “It burned probably 70-80% of the ranch.”</p>
<p>He said much of the grazing land will grow back quickly with rain and moisture but he said they also lost several 100-year-old Cottonwood trees that dotted the ranch. Firefighters were able to save three camps on the ranch that included barns and other structures.</p>
<p>Mr Smith said he believes a faulty power line sparked the blaze which quickly spread because of high winds.</p>
<p>“These fires are becoming a regular occurrence. Lives are being lost. Livestock are being lost. Livelihoods are being lost. It’s a sad story that repeats itself again and again, because public utility companies and oil companies responsible for these power lines aren’t keeping them maintained,” he said.</p>
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