Houston:

A U.S. power company acknowledged Thursday that its equipment may have started the largest wildfire in Texas history.

Xcel, the parent company of Southwest Public Service Co., which provides power to parts of the state, said it was working with officials to investigate the cause of the fire, which has scorched more than 1 million acres (more than 400,000 hectares).

“Based on the information currently available, Xcel Energy acknowledges that its facilities appear to have been involved in igniting the Smokehouse Creek Fire,” the company said.

Hundreds of homes are believed to have been destroyed in the fire, and at least two people and more than 3,000 farm animals are known to have died.

Xcel faces at least one lawsuit, and the company denies that it improperly maintains its equipment.

“However, we encourage people whose property was destroyed or livestock lost as a result of the Smokehouse Creek Fire to submit a claim to Xcel Energy through our claims process,” the statement said.

The admission came amid evidence that Texas’ power grid was under stress in the hours before the fire started due to strong winds on February 26, The Washington Post reported.

The newspaper said Whisker Labs, a company that monitors the power grid, recorded 50 faults in the system.

These are often recorded when power lines fall or come into contact with trees, events that often create sparks that can start fires in dry countryside.

It’s not uncommon for U.S. power companies to be blamed for devastating wildfires.

Last year, Hawaii’s Maui County took legal action against the island’s electricity provider over a deadly fire in the historic town of Lahaina.

Video taken before the fire swept through the town, killing 100 people, apparently showed downed power lines illuminating vegetation.

In California, a fire burned nearly 1 million acres in Dixie in 2021 after a power line owned by Pacific Gas and Electric came into contact with a tree.

A year ago, the company pleaded guilty to more than 80 counts of involuntary manslaughter in the horrific Camp Fire.

America’s infrastructure is often outdated and increasingly unable to meet growing demand.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)