Australians sue SINGAPORE POWER over 2009 firestorm

[Watchman]

Australians sue Singapore Power over 2009 firestorm
(AFP) – 13 hours ago

An ageing power line reportedly fell and started the February 7 fire at Kilmore East, in 2009


MELBOURNE — Victims of Australia's deadly 2009 firestorm have launched
legal action against a Singapore power firm alleging poorly-maintained
electrical wires sparked the blaze, reports said Saturday.
Lawyers representing almost 600 people lodged a class action in
Victoria's Supreme Court against Singapore Power for allegedly
failing to maintain an ageing line, which fell and started
the February 7 fire at Kilmore East.
It was the deadliest blaze of "Black Saturday", Australia's worst
natural disaster, claiming 119 of the 173 lives lost. Legal firm
Maurice Blackburn said the suit could be worth
hundreds of millions of dollars.
"We have heard strong evidence at the Royal Commission (into the fires)
that Singapore Power could have taken a number of steps to prevent the
devastating Kilmore East-Kinglake bushfire,"
firm chairman Bernard Murphy told The Age newspaper.

"Electricity distribution companies are commercial enterprises that have a
responsibility to ensure that public safety is not compromised simply in
order to keep costs down. Singapore Power's failures have had very tragic consequences."

The action currently has 598 plaintiffs but could grow to as many as 1,300,
including people who lost family members in the fire, suffered physical
injuries and lost property, or had ongoing psychological damage, The Age said.

It will allege Singapore Power failed to fit a 10 dollar (8.70 US) anti-vibration
device to guard against metal fatigue and that the circuit-breaker system
was not adequate for a dry, windy, fire-prone area.

The 1.1-kilometre (0.7-mile) single-strand line, one of the longest in Victoria,
was only checked every five years and rust and wire deterioration could not
be detected by ground crews, the case will also claim.

Unusually for an Australian civil case, Maurice Blackburn has asked that it
be decided by a jury instead of a judge.

The Black Saturday fires rushed into small communities with little warning,
killing 173 residents as they sheltered in their homes, or fled in cars.
Entire towns were razed, reducing more than 2,000 homes to ash.

Mass class action on bushfires
JOHN SILVESTER
June 19, 2010

www.GFT.com.au

LAWYERS acting for Black Saturday fire victims yesterday lodged legal documents in Victoria's biggest class action, alleging a private power company was responsible for a blaze that cost 119 lives.

The statement of claim, lodged in the Supreme Court, alleges international electricity provider Singapore Power failed to monitor and maintain the power line that caused the East Kilmore blaze.

One of the key planks to the case is the allegation that an ageing 1.1-kilometre-line failed because the power company refused to fit a $10 plastic anti-vibration protector to guard against metal fatigue.
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Lawyers say the action, on behalf of 598 victims, exposes a potential liability in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The total list of litigants could reach 1300 before the case is heard.

The plaintiffs in the action include victims who lost family members or suffered physical injuries, property loss and ongoing psychological damage.

The case centres on one giant power pole near Saunders Road, East Kilmore, where the blaze started from a fallen sparking line about 11.45am on February 7, 2009.

The joint action by Maurice Blackburn and Oldham Naidoo Lawyers alleges a series of failures and omissions by the Singapore-based power giant.

The claims, which are yet to be tested, include:

■ The 1966 single-strand power line should have been identified as a major risk because it was one of the longest in Victoria and located in a windy, bushfire-prone area.

■ Maintenance of country power lines blew out from being checked every three years to five years after the state's power network was privatised in 1999.

■ Visual checks from the base of the 20-metre power pole could not identify rust and wire deterioration.

■ Crews failed to identify a structural flaw where a power wire was not sitting correctly inside its housing.

■ The power company only fitted the $10 anti-vibration damper to new lines, ignoring older wires that were more likely to break.

■ The circuit-breaker system was not adequate for the bushfire-prone area, allowing the broken line to spark on tinder-dry grass.

Maurice Blackburn chairman Bernard Murphy said: ''We have heard strong evidence at the [Bushfires] Royal Commission that Singapore Power could have taken a number of steps to prevent the devastating Kilmore East-Kinglake bushfire.

''Electricity distribution companies are commercial enterprises that have a responsibility to ensure that public safety is not compromised simply in order to keep costs down. Singapore Power's failures have had very tragic consequences.''

One expert told the royal commission that the power company had a ''run to failure'' philosophy and questioned its maintenance program.

''A run-to-failure policy means simply that you let it go until it fails,'' said Professor Nick Hastings, an expert in electricity maintenance.

The fire started in short grass under power pole 38 at John Sullivan's farm at the top of Nanny Creek Gully before Black Saturday's conditions deteriorated. The fire quickly spread to a nearby pine plantation, building to a width of 17 kilometres and a length of 75 kilometres in just over eight hours.

When the power company replaced the line, which services just 16 people, it fitted a vibration damper. Singapore Power's northern regional manager, Paul Lane, told the royal commission the company only fitted the device to new lines. ''We haven't had a retrofitting program to go back and fit them to old lines,'' he said.

Industry experts say it has long been accepted that long, single-strand lines in windy areas are more prone to break and that dampers should be fitted for extra protection. The 1993 maintenance manual of the now defunct State Electricity Commission says, ''Where vibration is severe, it is recommended to fit spiral vibration dampers at one or both ends of the affected spans.''

Barristers Robert Richter, QC, Tim Tobin, SC, and Lachlan Armstrong have agreed to prosecute the case on a no-win, no-fee basis. The writ seeks the case to be decided by a jury.

The legal action is expected to take years to resolve, with lawyers from the two firms to take more than 1000 statements from victims and to prepare a group of engineers to provide expert testimony.

Mr Murphy said it was clear many fire survivors still suffered financial, physical and emotional hardship.

 

[manokie]

Oh no

Electrical power prices are going up again in sinkieland

They need more sinkie money to fight this lawsuit in Australia

 

[manokie]

i suspect sgp govt did it.....too many sinkies migrated to OZ!!

they want to deter more from leaving by showing sinkies how dangerous OZ is!!

They actually want more sinkies to migrate and replace them by submissive new migrants that are more hungry.

 

[Watchman]

i suspect sgp govt did it.....too many sinkies migrated to OZ!!

they want to deter more from leaving by showing sinkies how dangerous OZ is!!

Hee hee you are adapting really fast .

 

[Watchman]

Legal action against power firm over 2009 Australia bushfires
Last Updated: 9 hours 29 minutes ago

More than 600 victims of the Black Saturday bushfires in February 2009 have
launched a legal action against a power company over its alleged role in the fires.
It's alleged that a fire in Kilmore East started when a 43 year old powerline
owned by SP Ausnet broke. The fire killed 119 people and destroyed over 1,200 homes.
In a document lodge with the Supreme court in the state of Victoria, lawyers allege
the company failed to fit a safety device and did not properly monitor or
maintain the ageing line, which was known to be in a high risk bushfire area.
The legal action follows suggestions in a Royal Commission last November
that SP Ausnet could have taken steps to prevent fire from starting.
It is the second class action to be launched over a Black Saturday bushfire.
The first sued the power company Powercor over a fire at Horsham that destroyed 12 homes.

 

[Watchman]

Imagine supposally .
China Powers bought Singapore Powers in Singapore .
All of our liabilities .
Mechanical breakdown due to age .

Facts may not be accurate . But it's the thought process . Feel free to contribute .

 

[manokie]

Imagine supposally .
China Powers bought Singapore Powers in Singapore .
All of our liabilities .
Mechanical breakdown due to age .

Facts may not be accurate . But it's the thought process . Feel free to contribute .

I wonder why they can buy something of national strategic importance to us.. No other countries allow their power plants to be operated by China except us..

 

[Watchman]

I wonder why they can buy something of national strategic importance to us.. No other countries allow their power plants to be operated by China except us..

Maybe it costs more to maintain than keeping it .

 

[manokie]

Maybe it costs more to maintain than keeping it .

Do you trust the PRC chinese to keep prices low for us??

I doubt it.. The chinese are very evil people..

 

[Watchman]

Do you trust the PRC chinese to keep prices low for us??

I doubt it.. The chinese are very evil people..

It's a start . We can try to see if our policies work on home ground !

What I meant is if any equipment failure . The owner will have to pay for it .

 

[Queen Seok Duk]

The bunch of Aussies are nothing but cowards.

If they have the guts, come and sue Singapore Power in Singapore Courts. We will match them Kangaroo for Kangaroo.

 

[manokie]

The bunch of Aussies are nothing but cowards.

If they have the guts, come and sue Singapore Power in Singapore Courts. We have just as many kangaroos as Aussies.

Hahahahaha

Our kangaroo drive BMW and Jaguars

Their kangaroo need to hop around with their legs