VICTORIA Police investigators believe a powerline spanning a 1.2km-wide gully near Kilmore was the "likely" cause of Black Saturday's major bushfire that killed 119 people.
In a simple witness statement tendered to the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission last week, the head of the Victoria Police Phoenix Taskforce, Det-Supt Paul Hollowood, stated:
"An initial assessment of the cause of the fire indicates that it is likely to have started on a property on Saunders & Sunday Creek roads, Kilmore East at about 11.30am on 7 February 2009.
"The origin of the fire reveals that it was likely caused from a high-tension power line which fell, earthing and sparking.
"The fire then travelled initially in a southwest direction.
"A police investigation is ongoing in respect of the cause of the fire and into the circumstances surrounding fatalities attributed to the fire.
"It is believed that there were 119 fatalities attributable to this fire at 55 event locations."
The Phoenix Taskforce chief also said initial investigation of the Beechworth-Mudgegonga fire indicated it started as a result of a tree falling across high-voltage power lines causing the ignition.
"The fire then travelled southwest through Mudgegonga and surrounding localities into the vicinity of Beechworth," Det-Supt Hollowood said.
"A police investigation is ongoing in respect to the cause of the fire and into the circumstances surrounding the two fatalities believed to be attributable to the fire."
Yet, despite powerlines being implicated in Black Saturday's Kilmore, Mudgegonga and Horsham fires, the Commission heard that only two full-time staff had been employed by Energy Safe Victoria to assess the electricity distribution companies' annual bushfire mitigation and powerline clearance plans.
Former Energy Safety Victoria director Ken Gardner told the Commission two of the ESV's 90 staff were engaged to audit the plans.
Electricity distribution company SP AusNet lawyer Bernard Quinn said there was no "evidential foundation" linking the deaths in Black Saturday's fires to "electricity assets".
During the commission hearing that was held in Myrtleford on Monday, three Beechworth residents recounted how they had spotted the fire beneath a sagging powerline 3km from the town.
