The two trees that sparked the 2013 bushfires both showed signs of damage or disease which weren’t detected.
Although inspections were carried out in the months before the October 17 fires, neither a rotted wattle in Linksview Road, Springwood, nor a damaged gum tree in Mt York Road, Mt Victoria, were seen to be potentially dangerous.
Both trees fell on to power lines, causing electrical arcing and igniting vegetation.
More than 200 homes were destroyed in the fires.
The finding were revealed last week when NSW magistrate Fiona Toose handed down her report after a marathon coronial inquiry which began in June 2015.
Springwood
Endeavour Energy ensured inspections were regularly carried out around its power lines.
Linksview Road, Springwood, was checked in early 2013. The wattle tree outside number 108 was reported and the owner directed to trim the foliage around the service line. This was not, however, the real issue.
The tree was decayed, Ms Toose found.
“It is obvious that the tree … was diseased and likely to fail in strong winds because of its compromised (semi-hollow) core.
“There was no evidence that any of the inspections … by Endeavour or its contractors in the years prior to 2013 had identified the tree as being dead, dying, dangerous or visually damaged.”
Ms Toose said the experts who testified all agreed that the tree was rotted and if it had been tapped with a sounding hammer or rubber mallet during inspection, “any trained observer would have noticed a hollow sound, suggesting internal decay”, which would have prompted further investigation of the tree.
She acknowledged the experts could only examine the remaining trunk of the tree, making conclusions difficult.
“The evidence from arborists variously engaged to provide an opinion on this issue remains in part divided, with qualified experts with the luxury of time and resources being unable to agree on the important question of the appearance of the tree before the fire.
“In these circumstances, it is difficult to see how a … contractor, who is not required to have horticultural or arboreal qualifications, and who is not equipped with a sounding mallet, could be expected to identify the decaying state of the tree...”
The magistrate noted that Endeavour now gives basic training in detecting hazardous trees but they aren’t given a rubber mallet.
Mt Victoria
The fire at the top of the Mountains was caused when the branch from a Sydney peppermint near the driveway of 80-92 Mt York Road fell on to power lines, Ms Toose concluded.
The magistrate pointed out that there was no evidence that the owner of the property was in breach of any obligation to mitigate the risk of fire. Indeed, the owner employed someone to maintain trees along the driveway which could impact with overhead power lines.
The area had been inspected in May 2013 but the tree was never identified as a potential problem.
An expert who testified at the inquiry said the tree was structurally defective at the time of the fire.
“It exhibited severe asymmetry with a trunk lean of 40 degrees from vertical, and it also exhibited a severe internal defect with advanced fungal decay and severe termite damage,” Ms Toose wrote.
An inspector with a sounding hammer (mallet) would have easily detected the internal decay, the expert arborist said.
“Clearly the defective nature of this tree was missed, despite the fact that two different Endeavour Energy contractors had carried out work ‘on the ground’ within metres of the tree,” the magistrate wrote.
Action
Ms Toose recommended Endeavour Energy use “plain, unambiguous language” to clarify what it wants and needs from its contractors. (Endeavour Energy has made changes since the fires – see story at right.) She also recommended police in bushfire-prone areas get personal protective equipment; that RFS personnel get more training on fighting fires near electricity; and that RFS, Fire and Rescue and police improve inter-agency protocols for fire investigation.
