Tammy Cavey: Seaford Kv Corporation Pty Ltd boss fined after bushfire
A suspect spit roast set-up, run from a Seaford house, sparked a bushfire, destroyed a home and burnt cars.
South East
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The head honcho of a food company that operated from a Seaford house has been hit hard after her stuff-up sparked a bushfire, destroyed a home and burnt cars.
Tammy Lisette Cavey was ordered to fork out $17,500 by the Frankston Magistrates’ Court on Monday after previously pleading guilty to two planning law violations.
Charges against her husband Paul Anthony Cavey and the business entity itself had earlier been dropped.
The 35-year-old was the director of the now defunct Kv Corporation Pty Ltd when her house went up in flames following several gas bottle explosions.
The blazes sparked a bushfire that also damaged cars, fences, sheds and equipment and several people were hospitalised for smoke inhalation and burns.
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 December 20, 2019, 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 they hired out.
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 a nearby industrial 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.
Defence lawyer Joseph Burke said his client was devastated by the impact of her actions, was extremely remorseful and had already suffered financially because their house was a total loss.
Magistrate Gerard Lethbridge said it was Cavey’s failure to comply with council laws that “ultimately caused the destruction that was wreaked up and down the street”.
He said people and businesses must be discouraged from illegally using their land or the consequences could be significant.
Cavey was fined $15,000 for one charge and a further $2500 for the second.
The maximum total penalty that could have been imposed was around $217,000.
