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The Smokehouse Creek wildfire has burned more than 1 million acres and reduced homes to ashes.
A power company said its equipment likely caught fire in a massive wildfire in Texas last week that killed two people and killed thousands of cattle.
But Xcel Energy rejected the lawsuit’s claims that it failed to maintain its transmission lines.
The Smokehouse Creek Fire burned more than 1.1 million acres, making it the largest fire in Texas history.
Officials said hundreds of firefighters were still working to extinguish the blaze.
“Xcel Energy confirms that its facility appears to have been involved in the ignition of the Smokehouse Creek Fire,” the company said in a statement Thursday. “Xcel Energy is cooperating with the wildfire investigation and is conducting its own investigation.”
The company’s statement comes after a Texas homeowner whose home was destroyed in a fire sued the utility company last week, alleging that a power pole owned by the company fell over and started the fire.
Melanie McQuidy claims in her lawsuit that the pole was in poor condition due to lack of maintenance before it fell.
“Excel intends to pay any amount caused by the wildfires,” attorney Mikal Watts told Reuters.
The company confirmed that at least 64 homes were destroyed in the fire and is encouraging people who lost livestock or property to file insurance claims directly with their power company.
The Minneapolis-based company supplies electricity and natural gas to parts of Texas and seven other U.S. states.
The fire, which broke out last month in the Texas Panhandle and is still burning, left two people dead in addition to damaging buildings and losing cattle. As of Wednesday, authorities said the fire was 44% contained.
Video: Fire trucks drive through raging Texas wildfires
Firefighters are also working on another smaller blaze, the Windy Deuce fire, but Xcel Energy said it does not believe it was caused by its infrastructure.
Xcel Energy also faces nearly 300 lawsuits in Colorado. According to the Denver Postclaimed the utility was behind the 2021 Marshall wildfires, the most destructive in state history.
