WA grain belt residents fight for compensation 10 months after fire

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Residents who lost their homes in a ferocious fire that ripped through WA's southern grain belt earlier this year have been told they may have to wait up to two years before the cause of the fire is known. Initial investigations were unable to determine the origin of the fire, putting compensation claims on hold and leaving some in housing limbo.

Transcript

00:00Ten months after a fire ripped through the southern grain belt, Wayne Kaplan's home is

00:06a pile of twisted steel.

00:10The house he and his late wife called home for 23 years was destroyed along with all

00:14their possessions.

00:15It hit me very hard that I basically felt like I'd lost my wife again.

00:21With no money to rebuild, this camper van has become the 73-year-old's long-term home.

00:26At the moment my future plans are on hold because I don't know if I could be living

00:33in this for the rest of my life.

00:36The fire tore through 11,000 hectares.

00:38Three homes were lost, sheds, farming equipment, livestock and fences also destroyed.

00:43Those affected say knowing the cause will help them rebuild, but almost a year later they're

00:47still waiting for answers.

00:48I've put in emails to claims management and I'm still getting back the reply saying it's

00:54still under investigation.

00:56An investigation by the Department of Fire and Emergency Services was unable to determine

01:00the cause.

01:02Residents who witnessed the blaze believe it was started by power lines.

01:05Just happened to see a puff of white smoke come up above the bush line and then sort of

01:12following that was a big puff of black smoke.

01:15I looked across to my right and I could see the fire which was directly below the power

01:21lines and it was just roaring.

01:25Owners of the farm telling investigators at a council meeting last month the same story.

01:29When we got to the power pole, the bottom wire was broken, the earth wire, and our assumption

01:34is the earth wire broke and then reticulated up and hit the power line causing sparks.

01:40There has been no official determination on what caused the fire.

01:43Experts say witness accounts are consistent with an electrical fire.

01:46The white smoke would be the electrical part of the transformer taken off and then the black

01:52smoke would be the other combustibles burning.

01:54If you get two wires you can spark up white smoke very easily.

01:58Western Power declined to comment citing an ongoing investigation.

02:02Information gleaned through Freedom of Information showed that investigation is being managed from

02:06deep within the department responsible for regulating and prosecuting network operators.

02:11Investigations are tightly controlled and highly confidential.

02:14Residents and council officers only recently informed of this at a wage and council meeting.

02:18If there is a personal interest involved and if there is a case to answer, I tell you now

02:25you won't hear from us.

02:26The first you will see is that a prosecution notice has been served.

02:30Residents told investigations leading to a prosecution can take up to two years to complete.

02:35Things that don't meet that threshold are often withheld.

02:38Representatives for the local government want any findings made public.

02:40You know any fire that starts, we want to know the cause so that we can try to either

02:47eliminate that cause in the future or take those to task that may have been responsible.

02:53An uncertain wait for displaced residents.

02:55angleicent or we want to know the causes of extra awareness of a

03:06criminal shooting or a jail at a time.

03:09This is a weekend.

03:10We want to know the唐 Арma's office at a time that doesn't take place to account.

03:13They don't know the cause of the delay.

03:15They don't know the cause of their child.

03:16They don't know the cause of the problem.

03:18But then I do not know the problem.

03:19They don't know the cause of the situation that appears to be in the future or not.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended