Smoke from the Thomas Fire darkens the skies in southern Santa Barbara County in early December 2017. (Ray Ford / Noozhawk file photo)

Southern California Edison Co. will pay the federal government $80 million to settle a Thomas Fire-related court case, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced on Monday.

Investigators determined SCE equipment was responsible for starting the 2017 Thomas Fire that burned 281,893 acres in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, and destroyed 1,434 structures. Two people died in the blaze.

Friday’s settlement resolves a 2020 case that the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed for the U.S. Forest Service to recoup firefighting costs and damages from the wildfire. About 150,000 acres of burned land was within national forests.

Investigative reports found that SCE equipment caused the Thomas Fire, which started Dec. 4, 2017, and the smaller Koenigstein Fire, started the same day, that merged with it.

The Thomas Fire started near Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula and burned all the way to the Carpinteria Valley, Summerland and Montecito over several weeks.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the $80-million settlement is the largest wildfire cost recovery settlement by the United States in the Central District of California.

“SCE agreed to pay the settlement without admitting wrongdoing or fault,” representatives said.

“This record settlement provides significant compensation to taxpayers for the extensive costs of fighting the Thomas Fire and for the widespread damage to public lands,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Joseph T. McNally in a statement.

“The United States Attorney’s Office will continue to aggressively pursue compensation from any entity that causes harm to our forests and other precious national resources.”

Hundreds of individuals, businesses and public agencies sued SCE over Thomas Fire and subsequent 2018 Montecito debris flow damages.

The utility company has paid hundreds of millions of dollars in legal settlements related to the blaze and other wildfires investigators say were caused by its equipment.

That includes:

Noozhawk executive editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com.