Key points:
- The Cudlee Creek bushfire swept through the Adelaide Hills in December 2019
- It was caused by a tree falling on power lines
- A law firm is suing SA Power Networks for damages
Maddens Lawyers is seeking compensation for up to 1,000 victims of the blaze, which destroyed more than 90 homes and killed one person in December 2019.
It claims SA Power Networks' inadequate fault protection settings led to the bushfire, which started when a tree fell on power lines and then a fence.
Brendan Pendergast the Victorian law firm Maddens Lawyers said South Australia's energy distributor knew it was a catastrophic fire danger day, with a total fire ban in place.
"And yet we see in the Office of the Technical Regulator's report that the fault mechanisms were adjusted to normal settings and quite alarmingly the auto-reclose device operated twice so it de-energised the line and then re-energised it after the tree fell on the line and brought it down to the ground," he said.
| Cudlee Creek bushfire burning in the Adelaide Hills threatened the town of Lobethal.(ABC News) |
Mr Pendergast said he would present experts who said the tree was already "severely compromised" three years before the fire and should have been identified as "dead, dying or dangerous".
Range of losses from bushfire
He said losses went beyond the destroyed homes and 1,000 hectares in damaged vineyards.
"One person tragically lost their life, more than 50 firefighters were injured and many of the citizens living up there had suffered psychological or psychiatric injury as a result of the trauma of the bushfire experience," he said.
"So we're seeking to recover compensation for those aspects of the fire as well."
An SA Power Networks spokesman said the company had not yet seen "the detail of the claim" but would defend its actions.
"An independent government report concluded the fire start was due to a tree falling from outside the vegetation clearance zone surrounding power lines, and that SAPN had acted in accord with its bushfire and vegetation management procedures and equipment settings," he said.
SA Power Networks is controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing.
Maddens Lawyers is also representing victims of the November 2019 Yorketown bushfire, which was caused by a power network fault.
That case is heading to court-ordered mediation next month.
"We're optimistic that proper resolution can be achieved at that time rather than taking the matter before the court for a determination," Mr Pendergast said.
Mr Pendergast's firm has been involved in a number of lawsuits relating to bushfires, starting with the Ash Wednesday fire that struck the Adelaide Hills and parts of Victoria in 1983.
Full story: ABC News
