FIRE CASE HEATS UP
SILKS LINE UP IN HISTORIC CIVIL ACTION OVER DUNALLEY BLAZE
TOP lawyers are lining up in the multimillion-dollar action against a couple blamed for the 2013 Dunalley bushfires.
An October date has been set for one of the biggest cases in Tasmania’s legal history, which involves more than 440 people who lost property in the $100 million blaze.
The victims have accused Melissa Jayne Barrett and Hamish Robinson of negligently causing the bushfire, which destroyed 193 homes at Dunalley in January 2013.
AN October trial date has been booked for a court battle between hundreds of people who lost property in the 2013 Dunalley bushfire and the duo they claim was responsible.
More than 400 people have accused Melissa Jayne Barrett and Hamish Robinson of negligently causing the blaze, which destroyed 193 homes at Dunalley and surrounding areas, by failing to extinguish a campfire on their Forcett property.
The estimated cost of the blaze was in excess of $100 million. Ms Barrett and Mr Robinson have denied the claims.
The case is one of the biggest in Tasmanian legal history and any settlement is expected to involve a multi-million dollar figure.
The matter will not proceed as a class action, but will instead run with two plaintiffs as “test cases” to determine matters of negligence and loss, with any winnings in a lump sum to be distributed among the claimants.
The test plaintiffs have been chosen as their particular claims raised a wide range of potential loss issues — such as the dollar value of damaged fences or trees — to be determined by Supreme Court of Tasmania judge Stephen Estcourt.
Melbourne silk Lachlan Armstrong QC will act on behalf of the plaintiffs, while Ken Read SC and Jack Rush QC will act for the defendants.
Yesterday, Mr Armstrong told Justice Estcourt the matter would only proceed to trial if the parties did not settle out of court in mediation sessions beforehand.
“Most of the bushfire cases (interstate) … have so far settled, and we would be optimistic that this case would settle as well,” he said.
Mr Armstrong also said Barry Bones, the Tasmania Fire Service regional fire commander, would be called to give expert evidence if a trial date did proceed.
Initially, the case was due to proceed to a June 9 trial date, but that date was vacated yesterday owing to COVID-19 restrictions pushing back the court’s calendar.
Justice Estcourt set the matter down for October 19, in response to Mr Armstrong’s concerns that parties needed to be “working to deadlines” or there could be the “danger of slippage”. However, the case could be delayed again if coronavirus restrictions hampered an October trial date.
The plaintiffs claim the defendants caused the 14-day bushfire by failing to properly extinguish the campfire, in a tree-stump, on December 28, 2012. But the pair said that did not happen, and that the fire was put out before the bushfire kicked off on January 3, 2013.