Tammy Cavey: Crook cook sparked exploding gas bottle bushfire
Spit fire: An illegal Seaford home-based food firm is to blame for huge explosions that ignited a bushfire and wrecked a house and cars.
South East
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A dodgy caterer who ran an unlawful spit roast hire company from her Seaford home could be hit with $200,000 in fines, a court has heard.
Tammy Lisette Cavey was the director of the now defunct Kv Corporation Pty Ltd when her Barry St house went up in flames following a series of gas bottle explosions on December 20, 2019.
The temperature that day was well over 40C when the resulting blaze sparked a bushfire that also damaged cars, fences, sheds and equipment.
Several people were hospitalised for smoke inhalation and burns, and some firefighters also had to be treated for heat stress.
Dozens of firefighters in more than 20 trucks raced to the scene to put out the blazes, which took hours to get under control.
A nearby childcare centre had to be evacuated and authorities had to put out a smoke alert for suburbs including Frankston North and Carrum Downs.
The 35-year-old pleaded guilty to two planning law violations at the Frankston Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
Charges against her husband Paul Anthony Cavey and the business were dropped.
Frankston Council prosecutor Bruce Gardiner told the court the business initially applied for a permit in 2016, and was sent a list of what was required.
But they never completed the checklist and the application lapsed.
Mr Gardiner said on that day a truck delivered 180kg of liquid gas to the site in four large 45kg bottles.
A worker then decanted the gas into smaller 9kg containers to be used with spits for cooking.
Some leaking gas caused a fire which erupted, setting off a chain reaction of explosions which then started a fire in nearby grassland.
Mr Gardiner said one house and two cars were totally destroyed, several more vehicles were damaged, fences were scorched and equipment at the nearby former Nylex site was charred.
He said Cavey had failed to provide an explanation as to why she didn’t properly apply for a permit, which as an experienced caterer she would have known would be required.
He said the maximum total penalty that could be imposed was around $217,000.
Defence lawyer Joseph Burke said Cavey had already suffered financially because their house was a total loss and insurance would not pay out due to the illegal nature of the business.
He said she was devastated by the impact of her actions and was extremely remorseful.
He said Cavey should not be sentenced for the damage, only on her failure to get the proper planning accreditation for her business.
Magistrate Gerard Lethbridge said while there may be merit in that submission, it was “her failure that ultimately caused the destruction that was wreaked up and down the street”.
Cavey will be sentenced on August 2.
