One of the army officers on board a helicopter which sparked the devastating January 2020 Orroral Valley fire near Canberra has told an inquiry he had previously seen grass begin to smoulder after contact with a light.
The Orroral Valley fire burned for five weeks, destroying 90,000 hectares of the Namadji National Park near Canberra and burning across the Clear Range into New South Wales.
As part of an inquiry into the blaze, Coroner Lorraine Walker has already heard evidence about how the fire started from a light attached to the helicopter, with the downwash from the rotors acting like a blow torch as the aircraft took off.
This afternoon, a corporal, known to the inquiry as Witness D4, said by the time of the landing, he had forgotten the helicopter's searchlight was on and did not think to suggest the pilots land in a different location.
"If you remembered that it was on, would you have thought that it was inappropriate to land in long dry grass?" counsel assisting Kylie Nomchong asked the man.
"Yes," he replied.
Witness D4 said about two years beforehand, he had seen a helicopter searchlight that "had caused grass to smoulder but not ignite".
He also told the inquiry he did not think to use the fire extinguishers on board to try and put out the blaze.
"They are used only for an emergency when the aircraft is on fire," Witness D4 said.
"I could not ascertain that the aircraft itself was on fire at that time."
Pilot denies delay in alerting authorities was due to fear of tarnishing military's reputation
The coronial inquiry into the fire began last year, but was then delayed until today.
Specifically, the inquiry is examining the 45 minutes it took for local authorities to be notified about the fire.
By then, it had spread out of control.
This morning, a pilot of the helicopter gave evidence, telling the court he did not mention the ground fire during the 17-minute flight back to the airport.
"You did not tell the airport you started the fire," counsel assisting Kylie Nomchong put to the pilot.
"No, I did not," The pilot admitted.
Ms Nomchong suggested to the pilot he must have realised it was a very serious thing, to have started the fire.
"Yes … but I was managing an aircraft emergency that was a threat to life," he said.
"It remained a second priority to the safety of the passengers and crew."
Ms Nomchong also questioned the pilot about whether he was aware of fire crews being on the ground in the area who may be in danger.
He admitted he did know, but said he was totally focused on the aircraft.
The pilot also denied he was worried about how news the aircraft had started the fire would be received.
"Not one bit of me was considering the reputation at that stage … it was safety," he said.
The court heard when the aircraft landed safely at the airport, the pilot told a superior they started the fire, and that everyone was ok.
But no one had told Canberra's Emergency Services Agency (ESA), which was coordinating the fire operation.
The pilot denied it was an error not to inform the ESA.
"In hindsight, there may be additional things that I would have done, but my priority would have remained the same," he said.
"It was not until we landed safely at Canberra Airport that we knew we would land safely at Canberra Airport."
An Army private who was on board the helicopter also gave evidence today, telling the inquiry he did not report the fire to anyone because he thought the pilots had already done so.
The inquiry heard the private, known as Witness D5, was involved in reconnaissance work to identify suitable helicopter landing zones.
Ms Nomchong asked if at any point during the 17-minute flight back to Canberra Airport he considered sending a message over the app Signal to his line of command, alerting them to the fire that had been started.
"The thought hadn't occurred to me as we were flying back," he said.
Witness D5 said that while he could only hear the internal communications on the aircraft, he believed the pilots had already reported the fire.
He said he did not see it as his role to confirm with them.
"I remember a lot of communication back and forth between the crew and pilots, and at the time I was staying quiet to avoid interrupting," he said.
