Worksafe Victoria is bringing charges against Hazelwood Power Corporation over a long-running coal mine fire that smothered the town of Morwell.

The rural Victorian town was inundated by smoke and fumes from the underground coal fire as the Hazelwood mine burned for a staggering 45 days.

Authorities say the coal smoke caused extensive health problems among workers and the public, and led to a number of premature deaths.

Worksafe says it is filing charges relating to the company’s failure to provide a safe workplace and exposing the community to health risks.

Reports say they will be the first formal legal action taken against Hazelwood and its majority owner, GDF Suez.

Investigations and inquiries in the two years since the fire have already shown that the mine lacked key fire-fighting equipment used for fighting brown coal blazes, such as a compressed air foam system.

Researcher Tom Doig conducted investigations that found the mine’s fire-fighting equipment had been removed over the years leading up to the fire but had not been replaced.

He says this may have left the mine vulnerable to sparks and burning material from bushfires, which were separately shown to have caused the fire.

The state’s Country Fire Authority is in a legal dispute over costs for the firefighting effort.

The firies say GDF Suez should be made to pay the $18 million bill, but the company says it should not.