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In 2006, eight fires merged to become the East Amarillo Complex Fire and blazed for nine days, setting a record for the biggest fire in the state’s history that stood until this year’s fires.

Three years later, Texas legislators passed a law that required oilfield operators to build and maintain their power lines according to the National Electrical Code. But the law did not specify a penalty or an agency to enforce it, so there were no consequences for violating it.