A coroner investigating the tragic deaths of two firefighters at Harrietville has begun preparing his finding.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
John Olle is looking into the circumstances that led to Katie Peters, 19, and Steven Kadar, 34, losing their lives on February 13, 2013.
A 30-metre dead alpine ash crashed on to their Toyota LandCruiser "slip-on" as they and other firefighters evacuated the fire ground.
The pair were killed instantly.
A Coroner’s Court of Victoria spokeswoman said final submissions had been received from those with an interest in the inquest.
“The coroner is preparing the written finding,” she said.
No court date has yet been set into the handing down of the finding, thoough it is likely to be before the end of the year.
That would still be 14 to 15 months after seven days of evidence were heard at the Coroner’s Court in Wodonga.
Mr Olle then took evidence from several more witnesses in Melbourne in October, before rounding off public hearings with a single day in Melbourne on March 31.
It was after this point that Mr Olle called for interested parties to make their final submissions.
Mr Olle had hoped to conclude the inquest in Melbourne in October.
But this did not eventuate because a crucial final witness was in Canada and was not available.
She had left Australia before the inquest began in Wodonga on August 11 last year.
This evidence of this witness was considered crucial as she worked in weather forecasting.
She eventually gave her evidence via audio visual link from Canada in March.
The Harrietville fire, started by lightning, was declared under control on the very first night of January 21.
But strong winds then blew embers across containment lines, the fire growing to 700 hectares within 24 hours.
It eventually burnt 55,000 hectares of largely inaccessible country over 55 days.
Evidence given at the Wodonga hearing revealed how many crews on the fire ground were greatly concerned about approaching storms on the day the firefighters lost their lives.
But some of their supervisors still believed there was enough time to evacuate the fire ground in time.
Mr Kadar and Miss Peters were in a convoy doing just that when the tree fell on their vehicle.
Briefing notes in the hands of supervisors the previous day forecast storms the following afternoon, though this was not included in the same report on the morning of the thirteenth.
![Inquest finding: A coroner has begun preparing his final report into the deaths of two firefighters near Harrietville in early 2013. Picture: FAIRFAX Inquest finding: A coroner has begun preparing his final report into the deaths of two firefighters near Harrietville in early 2013. Picture: FAIRFAX](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/zTpV5j6X6iLmSh5SbcmSaP/a3064a71-46b6-47b2-abdc-b28bd2a76fbf.jpg/r520_236_2137_2827_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
![Steven Kadar Steven Kadar](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/zTpV5j6X6iLmSh5SbcmSaP/dac44b3c-2db3-4d29-8540-35605273ee5f.jpg/r375_0_580_325_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)