Essential Energy's bushfire severity risk classification has come under question at the NSW Bushfire Coronial Inquiry into the Failford Road Darawank bushfire on March 22 and 23.
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Hearings for the coronial inquiry began on February 28, 2022, with the week beginning March 21 focusing on the the cause and origin of Black Summer bushfires on the NSW Mid Coast and an inquest into the death of Julie Fletcher of Johns River.
The Darawank fire started on Saturday, October 26, 2019 on Failford Road, a road linking the Pacific Highway to The Lakes Way which goes to Forster-Tuncurry on the Mid Coast of NSW. The fire burnt for about three weeks, impacting around 3000 hectares, with at least 16 structures destroyed or damaged, including homes in Failford, Darawank, and Hallidays Point and surrounds.
A man saw the fire start when he was driving on Failford Road on the way home from work at around 11.45am. The inquiry was told the man witnessed a large branch fall from a tree behind a fence by the roadside and fall partly over power lines. The bottom part of the branch was suspended half in the air over the sagging power lines, with the other half across the road.
The witness pulled over and got out of his car. He heard crackling and saw sparks from the point of contact of the branch against electrical conductors. Sparks fell directly into dry grass below and a fire started.
The fire took off toward the road but then turned south toward bush and away from the road. Weather conditions were hot and very windy at the time, and the vegetation tinder dry due to drought, the inquiry heard.
The witness immediately called 000.
The inquiry heard that at 11.49am Essential Energy crews were mobilised after reports were received by their contact centre of a conductor down and grass fire having started. They later attended and cut and removed the tree branch. No repairs were required to the conductors.
Evidence in the cause and origin hearing was heard by Mr Paul de Mar, a court-appointed expert in bushfire risk and vegetation management; Mr Glenn Hargrave, senior program supervisor in vegetation operations for the north east region Essential Energy, and Professor Trevor Blackburn, consulting electrical engineer and adjunct professor at the School of Engineering University of NSW, with expertise in investigation of electrically caused bushfires.
Evidence suggested there was no negligence on the part of Essential Energy in regard to vegetation management around the power lines. Vegetation management had been carried out according to the company's vegetation management program.
The evidence showed that two branches had fallen on the power lines and come into contact with the conductors. The branches were shown, in Google street view photographs of the scene a year before the fire, to be overhanging the power lines.
However, as there was clearance of more than four metres between the branches and the conductors, Essential Energy was not required to remove the branches, according to the company's vegetation management program.
Mr de Mar's theory suggests that had Essential Energy categorised the area as a high bushfires severity risk zone (P1) there would have had to have been a pre-summer assessment done and the branches removed because of a 'clear to sky' policy for P1 zones, meaning branches much not overhang power lines at all. However, the Mid Coast is classified by Essential Energy to be of a moderate severity risk (P2).
Mr de Mar included in his report a map of Essential Energy's bushfire severity risk zoning for NSW, which showed no areas north of Sydney along the coast or ranges were classified as high risk by Essential Energy.
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Mr de Mar suggested that Essential Energy's bushfire severity risk classification is "out of step" with bushfire risk assessments undertaken pursuant to the development of statutory bushfire management plans, being the plans prepared by bushfire management committees and approved by the RFS commissioner.
Mr de Mar's theory of "misalignment in risk assessments between bushfire risk severity with Essential Energy versus assessments under the bushfire risk management plan" will await a stage two representative case study hearing later in the year.
"During that hearing there will be further detailed evidence going to the important issues of how Essential Energy classifies bushfire risk severity zones in those parts of the State serviced by their energy infrastructure," Assisting Counsel, Ms Ward said.
"This in turn is important in understanding how Essential Energy's vegetation management program attempts to reduce the risk of vegetation impacting upon electrical assets in each of the bushfire risk severity zones across the State.
"The evidence within the brief squarely raises certain issues around this topic but those questions will not be answered through the hearing this week, which is focused and limited to cause and origin of the fire.
"Essential Energy will be given fair opportunity to respond to matters ... arising from the expert evidence of Mr Paul De Mar," Ms Ward said.