Son files wrongful death lawsuit after mother dies in Texas wildfires
HUTCHINSON COUNTY — Eighty-three-year-old Joyce Blankenship died when the Smokehouse Creek fire enveloped her neighborhood in the town of Stinnett, northeast of Amarillo.
The Smokehouse Creek fire burned for nearly three weeks, becoming the largest and most destructive wildfire in Texas history, scorching more than 1 million acres, along with dozens of houses and structures and thousands of livestock.
Officials believe the fire was started by power lines. One utility company, Xcel Energy admitted that some of their equipment may have played a role.
On March 20, Paul Blankenship filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Hutchinson County on behalf of his mother, Joyce "Joy" Blankenship.
The lawsuit names Xcel Energy, Southwestern Public Service and Osmose Utilities. Southwestern Public Service Company is a subsidiary of Xcel Energy, and Osmose Utilities Services is a Georgia-based contractor that inspects wood utility poles.
Joy Blankenship died on February 27 "as a result of a preventable, massive wildfire that ignited when a faulty wooden pole snapped and caused power lines to contact the ground," the lawsuit states, adding that she "was the matriarch of the Blankenship family ... loved by everyone that had the pleasure of knowing her."
A previous lawsuit out of Hemphill County also named Xcel Energy, Southwestern Public Service and Osmose Utilities, and alleged the firms "failed to properly inspect, maintain, and replace" utility poles. According to that lawsuit, Osmose Utilities Services examined poles for Southwestern Public Service and was irresponsible in its inspection and reporting of the "rotten pole that caused the fire."
Both lawsuits allege the fire started when a "decayed" utility pole cracked and snapped off at its base.
Paul Blankenship's lawsuit claims a pole that fell on Feb. 27 started the "687 Reamer Fire," which later joined with the Smokehouse Creek Fire, due to the firms' "failing to comply with safety regulations, industry standards and best practices with respect to the use of wooden poles."
"Tragically, the fires spread so rapidly that Ms. Blankenship was unable to escape and burned alive when the flames engulfed her home," the lawsuit states.
In a previous statement to CBS News Texas, the CEO of Osmose, Mike Adams, stated that the company takes the accusations seriously.
"We are closely following reports of the devastation brought by the Smokehouse Creek Fire, and our thoughts are with the victims of this tragedy," said Adams.
"Osmose takes these allegations extremely seriously. We immediately launched an in-depth investigation, and we are committed to fully cooperating with any other local investigations into the cause of the fire. We stand by the quality and accuracy of our utility pole inspections."
Joy Blankenship is one of two deaths attributed to the Panhandle wildfires.