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wiredInUSA - November 2013
39
The Blue Mountains, New South Wales,
Australia, bushfire that claimed almost 200
properties might have been prevented if
required treemaintenance had been carried
out.
A tree with cables running through its
branches is believed to be the seat of the fire
that jumped a road then engulfed houses
in Springwood, Winmalee and Yellow Rock.
Fairfax Media established that an order to
prune the tree had been issued by the power
company in July.
A resident said she heard noises that sounded
like cables arcing, before the fire jumped
across the road to ignite bush cover.
Ms Stubbs' property adjoins the property with
the tree in Linksview Road, Springwood, the
site used to identify a fire that burned out
over 2,000 hectares and which reached a
state-of-emergency status.
Ms Stubbs said that, earlier in the year, she
had received a notification from Endeavour
Energy asking her to cut back foliage near
electric cables, which appeared to relate
to a straggly red bottlebrush plant near the
wires. She said her neighbor, a tenant, told her
he had received a similar document relating
to the large tree at the front of his landlord’s
property.
ASIA / AFRICA NEWS
Warning of
cable at heart
of Springwood
inferno
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