The NSW Bushfires Coronial Inquiry, which started on February 28, 2022, held hearings on investigations into the cause and origin at two fires on the Mid Coast on Monday, March 21 at the Coroners Court in Lidcombe.
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Both the Rumba Dump and Bills Crossing Crowdy Bay fires were started by lightning strikes, investigators told the State Coroner.
The Rumba Dump fire was believed to have started on October 16, 2019 in Tapin Tops National Park.
The fire burned for 14 weeks, merging with the Thunderbolts Way fire and the Riley Creek Trail fire on November 15, when the mega-fire was renamed the Rumba Complex fire. The fire burned 153,000 hectares, and damaged 134 structures.
Signs of the fire were not noticed until October 18, when National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) ranger Colin Temple saw smoke in a gully. The fire was small but difficult to reach. NPWS staff fought to control the fire, however it continued to breach containment lines, and burnt out of control until a Section 44 (state of emergency) was declared on Saturday, October 26.
The fire impacted residential homes in Caparra, Bobin, Killabakh and Wherrol Flat, and Strathcedar on November 9, also burning down the Bobin Public School.
No timely investigation was made into the source at the time by NSW Police or the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS).
On May 19, 2020 the site was examined by Mr Temple and a member of the NSW police force, however by then all indicators had been obliterated.
When questioned why there was a delay in police attending the site to investigate, the officer in charge of investigating the fire, Detective Chief Inspector Rob Blackman, Manning-Great Lakes Police District, told the court the location was very remote and rain following the fire had caused safety issues.
He said it was still dangerous where it had been burnt due to damaged trees that could fall over, and that FETS (Forensic Evidence and Technical Services) officers were a "fairly scare resource" and spread thin throughout NSW conducting investigations.
Richard Woods AFSM, director of Wildlife Investigations and Analysis and international specialist in wildfire cause determination, was retained as an independent expert to investigate the cause and origin of the Rumba Dump fire.
Mr Woods did not travel to the scene to investigate it.
He said given the remoteness of the site and the weather and fuel conditions, he is confident that the cause was a lightning strike.
His hypothesis is that a tree was struck by lightning on October 16, which caused the tree to smoulder and burn within the heartwood of the tree, the fire spreading via sparks and embers when the tree fell.
Studies of lightning strike data showed there were 67 lightning strikes in the vicinity on October 16, however the closest one mapped was 1.5 kilometres away from the believed site of origin.
Mr Woods explained that lightning strike data records 80-90 per cent of all strikes and there can be up to 500 metres variance. The variance grows the further away from Sydney the lightning is, and mountainous terrain also impacts accuracy.
The Bills Crossing Crowdy Bay fire was believed to have originated in the Cattai Wetlands on October 26, 2019.
A RFS Air Attack officer and pilot spied a column of smoke following a thunderstorm that day and reported it. Two aircraft dumped gel on the fire, however they were unsuccessful in extinguishing the fire.
The fire burnt for nine weeks, damaged approximately 13,000 hectares, and closed down the Cattai Wetlands for at least a year.
Eighty-four percent of Crowdy Bay National Park was impacted by fire including a large area of critical koala habitat.
Six properties were damaged or destroyed, including Kylies Hut. and the house of Julie Fletcher, who died in the fire, in Johns River.
The fire burnt south to Harrington Road and north to Diamond Head.
Mark Fullagar, Fire Investigation and Arson Intelligence NSW RFS was tasked with investigating the fire. He had access to the aerial photographs from the Air Attack officer and mapping by the RFS.
Mr Fullagar was unable to access the scene on November 11, 2019 though he tried from various directions. He spoke to a resident who said that a lightning storm had gone through the area the afternoon the fire started.
Access to RFS lightning strike data supported the resident's claim. A lightning strike was mapped in close proximity to the the location on the RFS map.
When asked if he was able to exclude causes for the fire, Mr Fullagar said that he was confident lightning could be the only source due to the inability of being able to physically get in to the site.
The Coronial Inquiry continues on Tuesday, March 22 with an inquest into the death of Julie Fletcher of Johns River.
An inquiry into the Hillville and Darawank fires will also be held this week.
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