Texas wildfire damages could exceed $1B, lawyer says

AMARILLO (Nexstar) -- Texans in the Panhandle are calling for accountability for multiple energy companies after investigators identified a downed power line as the source of Texas' largest wildfires.

Xcel Energy and the company tasked with overseeing their powerlines, Osmose Utilities Services, are at the center of a lawsuit alleging the companies were negligent in maintaining their power lines.

"Every person who uses Xcel pays a fee for them to inspect their lines, make sure their poles are safe, make sure they provide electricity in a safe manner," attorney Kevin Isern said. "When they fail to do what they're supposed to do, by cutting corners and doing things that allow these fires to start, that's a huge problem and they have to be held accountable."

Neither Xcel nor Osmose Utilities Services responded to Nexstar's request for comment when this story first aired.

In a previous statement, Xcel acknowledged that "its facilities appear to have been involved in an ignition of the Smokehouse Creek fire," but they disputed allegations of negligence.

"As longstanding members of the west Texas community, we will continue to support our neighbors in this recovery, and we thank our frontline workers who have worked long hours over the past several days to restore electrical service to those who can receive power in the impacted areas," the March 7 statement said.

Xcel is encouraging anyone who had property or livestock damage to submit a claim here.

Since late February, at least three people and thousands of cattle have died, dozens of homes have been destroyed and profitable ranches have been rendered inoperable for years to come.

Isern represents about a third of the property owners impacted by the fire. He said the damages could exceed a billion dollars.

"When you start talking about damages for these type of things, you're talking about not only grass, but fences, structures, animals. The tree loss is unbelievable. It is tremendous," Isern said. "You can't replant one hundred year-old cottonwood. And so a lot of what I call the "romance damages" are going to be through the roof."

But as a special legislative committee convenes to investigate the causes of the fire, Isern stresses that long-term comfort will come not from payouts but from policy. He argues the state needs to better enforce regulations against power companies.

"We want tougher laws, we want stiffer laws, and more importantly, we want them to just enforce the law, because they just don't do it," he said.