San Miguel Power Association has paid $1.275 million to settle a federal lawsuit alleging the power company bore responsibility for a wildfire that burned thousands of acres near Norwood in 2010.

The Beaver Fire ignited in May 2010 when a decayed cottonwood tree fell onto another cottonwood tree, and both trees fell onto a power line owned and operated by SMPA. The fire ultimately torched approximately 2,600 acres.

The federal government sued SMPA in 2016, claiming the company failed to properly i...