Fire victims in Chch sue for $10m

Residents who lost houses and property in the Port Hills fires want $10 million for alleged negligence by Orion New Zealand and the Adventure Park.

Statements of claim lodged by a group of 80 claimants affected by fires that raged over 1600ha of the Port Hills, Christchurch, during three days in February 2017, were released by the High Court yesterday.

The claimants are suing under the Forest and Rural Fires Act which allows recovery of losses from those responsible for fires and under the law of negligence. The Adventure Park and Orion should have realised its actions would cause the fires to start or spread, the document claims. Orion denies negligence and refutes the allegation that a maintenance failure contributed to the fires.

Insurance company IAG is coordinating the court action on behalf of insurers for all the claimants who are understood to have been paid out.

The first major fire started in Early Valley Rd in Lansdowne near Halswell on February 13 and a second started on the Summit Rd near the Sign of the Kiwi the same day.

The claimants are suing Orion New Zealand Ltd and Leisure Investments NZ Ltd Partnership (operator of Adventure Park) for $3.8m and $6.2m respectively.

The statements of claim contend the Adventure Park was asked to stop the lift as fires were burning out of control and were developing in the upper reaches of the lift area.

The statement of claim against Orion said the start of the Early Valley Rd fire could be traced back to a fuse on a pole (Pole 728) owned by the power company on the southern boundary of the road.

Orion, in its statement of defence, said the fire in Early Valley Rd has started four minutes before the time asserted by the claimants.

The Adventure Park’s statement of defence was not available.