The Supreme Court of Tasmania has today ruled in favour of 400 plaintiffs in a huge court action relating to the January 2013 bushfire that ripped through the town of Dunalley.

The plaintiffs had argued that a resident, Melissa Jane Barrett, had been negligent in allowing a campfire to be lit in a tree stump on her property and that this caused the fire that damaged their properties.

Justice Estcourt accepted the plaintiffs’ submissions and damages will be determined at a later date.

“As submitted by the plaintiffs, the answer to the enquiry as to factual causation is that but for the pleaded negligence, the bushfire would not have occurred and none of the plaintiffs would have suffered a loss from the bushfire,” he said.

The plaintiffs had also taken action against Ms Barrett’s partner Hamish Robertson but that case already settled.

The court documents say RACT Insurance was Ms Barrett’s insurer and the company told insuranceNEWS.com.au that it would review today’s judgment “in terms of confirming next steps”.

The bushfire destroyed 93 houses and 186 other buildings and the Insurance Council of Australia estimated losses at $89 million.

The court heard that the campfire was lit on December 28 2012 for the enjoyment of Mr Robertson’s 10-year-old son.

It was believed the fire had been extinguished but it was alleged that on January 1 steam was seen coming from the stump, and no action was taken.

On January 3 fire was spotted in grass near to the stump and it was alleged that the fire spread rapidly through Dunalley.

Ms Barrett had argued that it could not be proven that the campfire was the source of the devastating blaze.

Click here to see the ruling in full.