Xcel Energy failed to maintain and monitor its power lines and did not immediately contact authorities in December after sparks from its downed lines were a “substantial factor” in the ignition of the devastating Marshall fire, a group of Boulder County businesses and homeowners allege in a new lawsuit.

The class action complaint, filed Thursday in Boulder County District Court, lists an unnamed married couple — “John and Jane Doe” — as well as Eldorado Liquor and Eldorado Enterprises as plaintiffs.

“Defendants’ powerlines and energy utility equipment were a substantial factor in the cause, origin and continuation of the deadly Marshall fire,” according to the lawsuit. The complaint alleges that Xcel “unreasonably failed to maintain, monitor, and/or supervise its property in a manner so as to prevent an arcing event from causing a fire.”

The married couple is remaining unnamed in the lawsuit because of the trauma they are still dealing with just three months after the fire, their attorney, James Avery, told The Denver Post.

“The victims are marginalized, put on the sidelines,” Avery said. “But they’re not spectators in a football game — they’ve lost homes, lost business effects, personal effects. They’ve been put out in the cold.”

Michelle Aguayo, an Xcel Energy spokeswoman, said in an email: “Our own investigation shows that our equipment in the area of the fire was properly maintained and inspected, consistent with our high standards, and we have not seen evidence that our equipment ignited the fire.”

Boulder County officials have not determined the cause and origin of the fire, and on Thursday announced their investigation is expected to take several more months.

In the Dec. 30 wildfire’s immediate aftermath, officials said they believed the fire was likely sparked by power lines downed by heavy winds, which reached gusts of more than 100 mph. The following day, Boulder emergency management officials said Xcel Energy “inspected all of their lines within the ignition area and found no downed powerlines.” Instead, the utility company found “compromised communication lines that may have been misidentified as powerlines.”

Later, however, investigators said they were looking into a number of potential causes that could have started the fire, including power lines, a long-smoldering underground coal mine and human activity.

The Marshall fire killed two people and destroyed more than 1,000 homes and businesses in Superior, Louisville and unincorporated Boulder County, becoming the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history.

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