The wildfires affecting large parts of Texas over the past week and a half started near high-voltage lines. That's the conclusion the Texas A&M Forest Service came to after research. Electricity company Xcel Energy reached the same conclusion.
The fire in Texas began on February 26 and was quickly fanned by strong winds and warm weather. The Smokehouse Creek Fire, as the Texas wildfire was christened, became the largest fire ever in Texas.
The fire also spread to neighboring Oklahoma, where the Windy Deuce Fire originated. The two fires destroyed an area estimated at about five thousand square kilometers. It is an area the size of the province of North Brabant.
The Texas A&M Forest Service says it has found the cause of the fire in power lines. Firefighters did not explain in a statement exactly what happened. Xcel Energy confirms the fire broke out in its infrastructure, but has not shared any details. The company says it is not responsible for the fire in Oklahoma.
At least two people died in the forest fires. In addition, dozens of homes were reduced to ashes and tens of thousands of livestock died. At its peak, the fire was so widespread that it was visible from space. The forest fires were monitored by a satellite orbiting the Earth at a distance of more than 36,000 kilometers.
Fires in Texas and Oklahoma remain not fully under control, the Texas A&M Forest Service reports.
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