CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The investigation continues into the cause of the panhandle fires that scorched over a million acres earlier this month, and devastated scores of homes and ranchland. Texas Representative Todd Hunter has now been named to a house committee that will investigate the cause of those wildfires.
He’s one of five committee members on the panel and the only one who's not from west Texas.
As Chairman of State Affairs, Hunter oversees all utility issues within the state of Texas, and since the Texas A&M Forest Service determined the Smokehouse Fire was caused by downed power lines -- it makes sense he's on the committee.
Utility company XCEL Energy said it appears its equipment was involved in igniting that blaze but denied negligence. Hunter tells 3-NEWS that's something he wants to get to the bottom of.
"I know there's been reports that this group says this, this group admits this,” Rep. Hunter said. “My view is I want to hear everything, because it's not decided yet.
“The main thing is, let's find out what happened, and how this doesn't happen again."
Hunter says the committee will be holding investigative hearings in West Texas before the May 1 deadline -- to get to the heart of what led to the largest wildfire in state history.
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