A mining company defied warnings from the authorities and went ahead with a controlled burn in Kakadu national park, which then got out of control, the Northern Territory fire service has said.
A federal investigation is currently underway into a bushfire which burned through 200 sq km of the Kakadu national park and threatened heritage-listed and culturally significant sites.
The fire began on the Ranger project site on 1 October. The operators of the Ranger uranium mine, Energy Resources Australian (ERA), said that shortly after it was finished wind conditions changed and it jumped containment lines into the park which surrounds the mine.
However a NT fire and rescue service (NTFRS) spokesman has now said they were warned against it.
“In response to an enquiry from the Ranger mine at 7am on the day in question, NTFRS recommended there should be no burn due to the high fire danger that day,” he said in a statement.
Traditional owners blamed ERA for lighting a fire too late in the top end’s dry season and losing control of it. They said it was the second year it had happened, and accused ERA of negligence.
ERA, which is majority owned by Rio Tinto, has said it did not require permission to start the weed management fire on the Ranger project site. The company is conducting its own investigation into the fire.
“On the day of the weed management activity, there was no fire ban in place for the area or the region in which the Ranger mine is located,” a spokeswoman said.
“ERA followed its normal protocol to notify stakeholders prior to undertaking weed management.”
A spokeswoman for federal environment minister, Greg Hunt, said earlier this month Parks Australia had been instructed to conduct a “full and thorough investigation into the cause of the fire”.
“This is a very serious matter,” she said in a statement to Guardian Australia.
“No permission was sought and no approval was received for the lighting of the fire by ERA. We will not hesitate to seek reimbursement for the costs of firefighting if negligence or wrongdoing are in any way shown.”
