Investigations into the Tathra bush fires in New South Wales have found faulty electrical infrastructure is likely to be the cause of the fire.
NSW Rural Fire Services have reported 65 homes destroyed in the Tathra bushfires with another 48 damaged.
Supplier Essential Energy said an internal review indicated its network protection equipment “activated as it is designed”, and denied claims from the Electrical Services Union that it hadn’t kept maintenance of nearby vegetation up to standard.
In a statement to Fairfax Media, CEO, John Cleland, said Essential Energy understands “trees fell onto powerlines during the extreme weather conditions,” but the company’s specialist internal investigators had not yet been able to fully access Reedy Swamp Road to make a conclusive determination of what happened.
