The long-awaited state inquiry into the Reedy Swamp-Tarraganda Bega/Tathra bushfire gets underway on Monday, two years after it destroyed almost 70 homes.
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Deputy State Coroner Elaine Truscott will oversee the inquiry, which is being held at the at the NSW State Coroners Court and Forensic Medicine Facility in Sydney, and live streamed online.
The fire burned through more than 1000 hectares, causing $63.5 million worth of damage.
In 2018, a preliminary report by NSW Rural Fire Service fire investigators found "electrical infrastructure on Reedy Swamp Road as the likely cause" of the bushfire.
In the days after the fire, state-owned power company Essential Energy denied poor maintenance of its equipment contributed to the bushfire, blaming trees that fell onto its powerlines during the extreme weather conditions as the origin of the fire.
Essential Energy chief executive John Cleland said at the time an initial review showed inspections and maintenance of the area around Reedy Swamp Road were "up to date and in accordance with prescribed standards".
"Preliminary internal enquiries indicate network protection equipment activated as it is designed," he said in a statement.
The inquiry will run until August 21.
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