Town’s sigh of relief

By Kath Gannaway
MARYSVILLE residents have expressed relief for themselves, and sympathy for the firefighter accused of lighting the fire that razed the town on Black Saturday.
For two and a half years police have pursued an arson investigation which focused around Murrindindi CFA volunteer Ron Philpott.
Last week Victoria Police confirmed they are no longer looking at a criminal investigation.
Now some people say they would consider joining the Kinglake class action against SP AusNet.
Dr Lachlan Fraser lost his clinic and many good friends in the blaze.
He said there had been a cloud of suspicion in the back of people’s minds for the past two years.
“It is a relief to know that all the destruction is not caused by the actions of one person, but on the other hand there is some resentment that we had to carry that belief for over two years,” Dr Fraser said.
He said there now needed to be a thorough investigation into the cause.
“Because it was thought to be arson, there were no questions asked, other causes didn’t come into it for most people,” he said.
Dr Fraser said a couple of hundred people had spent a lot of time and resources on that basis applying for crimes compensation.
“Those people are now no longer able to pursue that line,” he said adding that although there had not been time for a great deal of thought, he believed they would look to a class action if there was reason to believe the cause was attributed to power lines.
Ray Mahoney and his wife Carol have just returned to Marysville after his post office business and home was destroyed.
Mr Mahoney said while he felt extremely angry when the first allegations were made against Mr Philpott, it was easy to be wise after the facts.
“It was a good thing that no-one took the law into their own hands, there were a lot of angry people around when it first came out,” he said. He said his overwhelming thought now was for Mr Phillpot.
“I feel terribly sorry for the man if it wasn’t him – it would have been a shocking thing to be accused of,” he said.
Mr Mahoney said he had not thought about compensation, or the possibility of a class action.
“For us, we just want to put a line under it all and get on with life,” he said.
Marysville Community Recovery Committee chair Tony Thompson however said there was a need for many to know what caused the fire. “I think it has put people’s minds at ease that there is not some idiot running around lighting fires, but we also need to find out now what the cause was,” he said.
“If there was a fault it needs to be fixed so this doesn’t happen again.
“A class action is something that will have to be talked about too,” he said.
In a statement issued by Maurice Blackburn, the law firm pursuing a class action in the Kilmore East fires, principal Andrew Watson said a class action was not on the agenda yet.
“Following the finalisation of the police investigation into the Murrindindi fire, the appropriate procedure is to await the outcome of the Coroner’s inquest into the loss of life in the Murrindindi fire,” Mr Watson said.