'Over-lamping' may have caused fatal Brisbane blaze: inquest
Tau Taufa and other family members speak to the media outside the Magistrates Court. Eleven members of the Taufa and Lale families, including eight children, were killed in a house fire. (AP) AAP
A cigarette and a desk lamp may have been "viable ignition points" for a house fire that claimed 11 lives, an inquest has heard.
Former scientific police officer Brad Bardell has told the inquest it took crews three days to shore up the shell of the home in Slacks Creek, south of Brisbane, after the blaze in August 24, 2011.
Mr Bardell said crews used scaffolding and reinforcements to ensure that personnel could safely collect the remains of 11 members of the Taufa and Lale families, including eight children.
"It was so structurally unsafe that in any other ordinary circumstances if it was a house fire, it would've been too unsafe to risk sending people in to determine the origin and the cause."
He said the recovery of victims necessitated a thorough exploration of the home.
The court was shown a series of photographs from inside the burnt out house.
Mr Bardell explained various indicators which suggested the blaze began in a downstairs study. Pictures of the study gave an impression of the ferocity of the blaze.
"Essentially, everything's been consumed," Mr Bardell said.
He told the court the remains of a cigarette packet in that room suggested a cigarette may have been an ignition point.
But Mr Bardell could not exclude a desk lamp.
He said his investigations revealed at the time the desk lamp was purchased, owners were able to buy 60-watt bulbs for it.
But the lamp was rated to use a bulb of up to 40-watts.
The use of bulbs that were too powerful for the appliance was known as "over-lamping", Mr Bardell explained.
The 60-watt bulbs that were suitable for the particular lamp have since been taken off the market.
Mr Bardell tested the same model lamp with a 60-watt bulb he sourced from importers.
He said he was able to ignite regular printer paper within minutes.
"For me, that was telling for the point of view of being a viable ignition source if it was in the over-lamped condition."
The inquest, before coroner James McDougall, continues.
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