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Delta blamed for 2015 fire

Blackened trees show the path of the Saddle Hill fire in 2015. Photo: ODT.
Blackened trees show the path of the Saddle Hill fire in 2015. Photo: ODT.
Delta is being sued for more than $2 million by seven Saddle Hill property owners who say the company is to blame for a massive fire  in 2015.

The Otago Daily Times understands that the case rests on whether the fire, which damaged nine structures including houses and garages, was caused by an "act of God" or whether Delta mismanagement was to blame.

One of the property owners, who said he was not ready to go into detail about the case yesterday, confirmed that seven of 10 property owners affected by the blaze were involved in the action and they were suing Delta for a total of $2.05 million.

Firefighters prepare to attack the blaze in October 2015. Photo Stephen Jaquiery.
Firefighters prepare to attack the blaze in October 2015. Photo Stephen Jaquiery.

The property owners believe the October 7 fire was caused by a piece of a tree coming down on a power line, but that it could have been prevented, had Delta managed lines company Aurora Energy’s infrastructure properly.

Whistle-blower Richard Healey, who has knowledge about the case and has read Delta reports on the fire, said the case would rest on the use of a piece of equipment called an auto-recloser, which automatically turns the power back on following a fault, to limit power interruptions.

The neighbours believed the fire was caused when power was automatically turned back on after a piece of tree fell on the line and this version of events was backed by internal Delta documents, Mr Healey said.

The auto-recloser operated twice within 25 minutes on the afternoon of the fire.

Mr Healey said having an auto-recloser on that stretch of line went against engineering advice. In any case, it should not have been operating on October 7 because of the risk of fires that day.

"Delta were warned by the Fire Service 24 hours earlier that there was an extreme fire risk and high winds and they did not turn off auto-reclose."

Mr Healey believed Delta had also not been proactive enough about ensuring landowners kept trees a safe distance from lines.

He could not be completely sure Delta was responsible for the blaze, but "on the balance of probabilities" it looked like it was.

Delta did not respond to a request for comment yesterday.

vaughan.elder@odt.co.nz

 

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