Three companies linked to the devastating fire that tore through the heritage-listed buildings of the New Acton Pavilion in 2011 are being sued for negligence in the Federal Court.
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The fire destroyed Flint restaurant, Parlour Wine Room and upstairs office space in the New Acton pavilion on June 23.
The Bicicletta restaurant and the Diamant Hotel were also damaged.
An inquest into the blaze was held in 2012 and Chief Coroner Lorraine Walker found it had started in exhaust ductwork above Flint restaurant’s pizza oven.
The fire, Ms Walker found, began when combustible material was ignited in the ducts above the restaurant by heat or embers from the woodfire oven.
The inquest found a lack of cleaning access panels in the ducts led to the creation of a build-up of combustible material.
It also found that a spray filter, designed to cool hot embers, was inactive at the time of the fire.
On Friday, a negligence case stemming from the blaze briefly appeared in the Federal Court.
The claim of negligence has been made against Millenium Heating and Cooling Pty Ltd, which installed the ductwork, despite having little commercial experience doing so.
Action has also been taken against construction company Nikias Diamond Property Developments Pty Ltd, which contracted Millenium for the ductwork, and SLLEK (Canberra) Pty Ltd.
The case has been brought by a group of three parties affected by the 2011 fire - Acton Developments Pty Ltd, Galnom Pty Ltd and the owners of damaged units.
They are seeking damages, compensation, interest, cost and any other order that the court thinks fit.
The case will be back before the Federal Court in October.
Many of the businesses destroyed or damaged during the fire have since reopened.