WESTERN Power is being sued after one of its power poles allegedly caused a fire which burnt through five farms in Mogumber in late 2019.
Tom and Kaye Kelly have engaged lawyer Kevin Banks-Smith to file a legal claim in the WA Supreme Court against Western Power, seeking to recover $2 million in losses caused by the fire.
Mr Banks-Smith told Farm Weekly he believed the Kellys had a very strong case against the State government-owned corporation, based on evidence gathered about the condition of Western Power's power poles.
The couple alleged that just before 2pm on December 15, 2019, a Western Power-owned power pole broke into two pieces at about three-four metres below its cross arms and that the failure caused the top portion of the pole, insulators and cross arms to bounce in the wind, supported only by energised conductor wires that were connected to that portion of the pole and to two other poles.
The Kellys claim that the molten metal from the pole ignited a fire in a paddock, which quickly spread to their farm and several other farms in the Mogumber region.
"The power pole was down to about 70 millimetres of good wood, so it was basically a rotten pole that snapped due to some tension being put on the line," Mr Banks-Smith said.
"Whether it was due to wind or something else, a power pole should never snap two thirds of the way up, in circumstances which cause a fire."
Mr Banks-Smith said the jarrah pole that allegedly failed was installed in 1985 and that the safe service life of jarrah poles was well known to Western Power to be a maximum of 25 years.
"Pole MG269 was about 10 years past the expiry of its safe working life, yet remained in service as part of Western Power's network at the time of the Mogumber fire of 2019," Mr Banks-Smith said.
"Western Power's own maintenance records reveal that the pole that broke had only 70mm of good quality wood left as at 2016.
"The Western Power records also show that a 50 per cent loss of good wood in the pole had occurred between 2012 and 2016.
"Despite knowing that the pole was in rapid decline several years before the fire, it was left in service by Western Power until the date of the fire.
"The pole was also impaired both by fungal rot and termites when inspected by Western Power in 2016."
Mr Banks-Smith said Western Power delivered replacement poles to the paddock where the fire started at least 12 months prior to the date of the fire, but had allegedly failed to take steps to replace the pole before it snapped in half, with the new poles destroyed on the ground during the 2019 fire.
He said the Kellys had made multiple attempts to discuss their losses with Western Power but, despite their efforts, had been invited to take legal proceedings against the corporation.
With Mr and Mrs Kelly both in poor health and aged in their eighties, Mr Banks-Smith said he would be asking the court to send the matter to mediation to avoid the couple having to attend a trial.
"Our position is that Western Power should sit down and have a discussion about settlement and resolving the case - it would be very disappointing if they refused to mediate," Mr Banks-Smith said.
Western Power declined to comment, with a spokesperson saying it would be inappropriate given the matter was subject to legal proceedings.
The first procedural hearing for the case is expected to take place this month.
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