SYDNEY (AP) — Survivors of one of Australia's deadliest wildfires are to be awarded nearly 500 million Australian dollars ($470 million) in a class action settlement reached Tuesday, the largest such compensation in the nation's history. 
 
 The fire, which killed 119 people, was the biggest in a series of blazes that tore through the southern Australian state of Victoria in 2009, leaving 173 people dead and destroying more than 2,000 homes in just over a single day. 
 
 More than 5,000 people joined the class action against electricity provider SP AusNet, arguing the company was negligent because it hadn't maintained its power lines, which sparked the fire. The group also sued Utility Services Corporation Ltd., which SP AusNet hired to maintain the lines, and the Victorian government. 
 
 On Tuesday, the defendants agreed to pay a total of AU$494.7 million. Attorney Andrew Watson, who represents the plaintiffs, said the settlement still needs final court approval. It will then take 12 to 18 months to distribute the payouts, he said. 
 
 "No amount of money will ever compensate those who were affected by the fire for the losses they have suffered," Watson told reporters in Melbourne. "But this settlement of nearly $500 million represents a measure of justice and some real compensation that will ease the financial burden of their suffering." 
 
 SP AusNet said in a statement that it had agreed to the settlement, but had not admitted liability. The company said the conductor that broke and sparked the fire had been damaged by lightning. 
 
 "It has been a tough, grueling five years since the fire killed our son, left our daughter without her big brother and destroyed our home," lead plaintiff Carol Matthews said. "There is so much pain that is still very real, but today there is also a sense of justice." ||||| Image copyright AFP Image caption A total of 173 people died in the Black Saturday fires in Victoria, Australia 
 
 Survivors of one of the worst bushfires in Australia have won a payout of almost A$500m ($470m), in the country's largest class action settlement. 
 
 Some 10,000 plaintiffs sued a power company for negligence over the fire. 
 
 The case centred on the most deadly blaze on Black Saturday, on 7 February 2009, when wildfires swept across several areas in the state of Victoria. 
 
 This fire, in the Kilmore East area north of Melbourne, killed 119 people and destroyed more than 1,000 homes. 
 
 A 2009 Royal Commission found that the fire began when an electricity line failed between two poles. Contact between the live conductor and a cable stay supporting the pole caused arcing that ignited vegetation, the report said. 
 
 The plaintiffs accused SP AusNet of failing to adequately maintain its power lines. 
 
 They also sued Utility Services Corporation Ltd, the line maintenance contractor, and the Department of Sustainability and Environment for inadequate prevention measures. 
 
 The group were awarded a settlement of A$497.4m ($467m, £274m), of which SP AusNet will pay A$378.6m. 
 
 The settlement represented "a measure of justice and some real compensation to help ease the financial burden of their suffering," lawyer for the plaintiffs Andrew Watson said. 
 
 SP AusNet said the settlement came without an admission of liability by the company. 
 
 "SP AusNet's position has been, and continues to be, that the conductor which broke and which initiated the fire was damaged by lightning, compromising its fail-safety design in a manner which was undetectable at the time," it said in a statement. 
 
 "It is a tragedy that the conductor eventually failed on one of the worst days imaginable." 
 
 A total of 173 people died in the Black Saturday fires.
– Australian power company SP AusNet hasn't officially accepted responsibility for a wildfire that killed 119 people near Melbourne in early 2009—but it has agreed to pay $470 million to survivors in the biggest class-action settlement in the country's history. Some 10,000 plaintiffs accused the firm of negligence after investigators determined that the fire began when an electricity line failed between two poles, causing a live conductor to ignite vegetation, the BBC reports. The ensuing fire was one of several wildfires that killed a total of 173 people and destroyed more than 2,000 homes on February 7, 2009, which became known as Black Saturday. The company says the settlement, which still needs court approval, is not an admission of liability, the AP reports. "The conductor which broke and which initiated the fire was damaged by lightning, compromising its fail-safety design in a manner which was undetectable at the time," it said in a statement. "It is a tragedy that the conductor eventually failed on one of the worst days imaginable." A lawyer for the plaintiffs says the settlement will bring "a measure of justice and some real compensation to help ease the financial burden of their suffering." After the deadly fires, rescued koala Sam became a symbol of hope—though he died of chlamydia later that year.