Two wildfires that burned ignited by power lines
more than 1 million acres in the Panhandle were caused by downed power lines, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.
Juan Rodriguez, with the service, told the Texas Standard that its law enforcement investigators had concluded their probe into the source of the Smokehouse Creek and Windy Deuce fires.“In this case, we saw winds that were over 60 and 70 miles an hour. And so, when the winds are doing that, driving down the roadways, you can just see power lines just bouncing up and down,” Rodriguez said. “It’s bound to cause one of these power lines to fail or something like that. So, you know, one of them or some of them may have fallen or just got out just due to the sheer wind.”Xcel Energy last Thursday issued a statement acknowledging that its facilities “appear to have been involved in an ignition of the Smokehouse is urging people who lost property or livestock a claim to the company. As of Sunday, t h e Smokehouse Creek fire was 87% contained, while 92% contained.
