fires, the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority stated that based on figures from the end of 2010, permits had been issued for the rebuilding of only 731 of the 1,795, or 41 per cent of the principal places of residence destroyed in the fires. Lawsuits A class action lawsuit was initiated in the Supreme Court of Victoria on 13 February 2009 by Slidders Lawyers against electricity distribution company SP AusNet, in relation to the Kilmore East fire that became part of the Kinglake complex, and the Beechworth fires. A partner at the firm indicated that the claim would centre on alleged negligence by SP AusNet in its management of electricity infrastructure. On 12 February police had taken away a section of power line as well as a power pole from near Kilmore East, part of a two-kilometre section of line that fell on the morning of 7 February and was believed to have started the fire there. The class action was ultimately run by law firm Maurice Blackburn. The action alleged the power company failed to fit a $10 protective device on the power line, which contributed to it breaking and starting the devastating Kilmore East/Kinglake fire. The case settled in 2014 for almost A$500m (US$470m), the country's largest class action settlement. A separate class action claim had been expected to be commenced by Gadens some time after 16 February, and Slater & Gordon indicated that they were awaiting the report of the Royal Commission into the bushfires, which concluded in late July 2010, before initiating any claims. Also on 13 February, five law firms from Victoria's Western Districts held a meeting to discuss a potential class action in relation to the Horsham fire, which was also thought to have been started by fallen power lines. Fire policy In the wake of the fires and the mounting casualty toll, there was debate about policies for dealing with bushfires and the management practices that may have contributed to them. Naomi Brown, chief executive of the Australasian Fire and Emergency Services Authorities Council, argued that the high number of fatalities in these fires, as opposed to earlier fires such as the Ash Wednesday fires, was partly attributable to increased population densities on Melbourne's fringes. David Packham, bushfire expert and research fellow at Monash University, argued that high fuel loads in bushland led to the destructive intensity of the fires, saying that