Southern California Edison has agreed to pay $80 million to cover costs and damages from the 2017 Thomas fire, a massive blaze in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties that killed two people and later triggered a massive mudflow that resulted in 23 deaths.

The Thomas fire, which scorched more than 280,000 acres and destroyed more than 1,000 structures, ignited on Dec. 4, 2017, after high winds caused two Southern California Edison power lines to slap together, fire officials found.

Combined with another blaze sparked by the company's equipment, it became the eighth-largest wildfire in state history, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The utility agreed, in a settlement finalized Friday afternoon, to pay the federal government to resolve claims on behalf of the U.S. Forest Service, the Justice Department announced Monday. Edison did so without admitting wrongdoing or fault.

In a news release, the Justice Department called it "the largest wildfire cost recovery settlement by the United States in the Central District of California."

“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," First Assistant U.S. Atty. Joseph T. McNally said.

Gabriela Ornelas, a spokesperson with Edison, called the settlement "a reasonable resolution."

"We continue to protect our communities from the risk of wildfire with grid hardening, situational awareness and enhanced operational practices," she said.

The Thomas fire began in two locations on that December evening, according to fire officials. The first ignition point was in Anlauf Canyon and the second was at the top of Koenigstein Road in Ventura County. The two fires joined together and formed the Thomas fire.

In 2020, the federal government filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Forest Service against Edison to recover costs from fighting the fire and for the extensive damage it caused to Los Padres National Forest, the U.S. attorney’s office said in its news release.

The Justice Department alleged that Edison owned, maintained and operated the power lines that caused both ignitions. In Anlauf Canyon, the government alleged that Edison power lines made contact with one another and ignited dry vegetation below. On Koenigstein Road, the federal litigation alleged that an Edison power pole transformer failed and caused an energized power line to fall to the ground, also igniting dry vegetation.

Edison previously acknowledged that its equipment probably started a fire off Koenigstein Road in Santa Paula, but its own investigators concluded that the company was probably not responsible for the second, larger blaze that began in Anlauf Canyon.