An Australian outback station operator has apologized for the fiery death of a Richmond tourist who was accidentally set alight with aviation fuel on his Northern Territory property a year ago.

Cynthia Ching, 29, who worked at a Vancouver law office died six weeks after the tragic incident, which was kept under wraps until the media reported it last month.

Ian Conway

She is understood to have been engulfed by flames when ignited aviation gas being used as a makeshift lantern was inadvertently cast in her direction.

The tourist, who was travelling around Australia with her younger sister, had been on the remote station for only two days.

Police are still investigating the case and have not said whether any charges would be laid.

Seeking answers over the tragedy, Ching's father Ralph travelled to Australia with his lawyer two weeks ago but were ordered off the remote station property.

Station owner Ian Conway apologised to Ching and invited him to return to the station, 400 kilometres from Alice Springs.

He said the family deeply regretted the tragedy, and had done everything it could to help the Canadian tourist and her family after the incident.

"Cynthia Ching was a vibrant young woman who was well liked by everyone at Kings Creek Station and her death has affected us all," Conway said in a statement.

"We did everything we could to save Ching's life, applying first aid immediately and arranging medical evacuation through the Royal Flying Doctor Service." His wife Lyn also gave ongoing support to the family, spending hours at the hospital and providing some transport and accommodation, he said.

Conway said he had asked Ching and his lawyer to leave the property following advice from his own lawyers, the authorities and his insurance company.

"As a father, I certainly understand Ching's desire to visit the site of the accident and to seek some closure on this terrible matter," Conway said.

"Unfortunately legal advice is sometimes short on compassion and I acknowledge I could have handled the situation in a more sensitive manner.

"I apologise to Mr. Ching for those events and say that he is welcome to visit Kings Creek Station."

However, the invitation was not extended to Ching's Canadian lawyer Craig Paterson because of the continuing police investigation and possible civil action.

Paterson has said there are many unanswered questions over the tragedy and subsequent police investigation.

But Conway said his family had cooperated fully with authorities.

"As the lawyers and media get involved, we should not lose sight of the fact that this was a tragic accident that took the life of a much loved family member and a friend to so many people," Conway said.

"A young lady has died," Australian opposition MLA Stephen Dunham told reporters.

"She's come from overseas looking for job opportunities here. I think the goodwill of the Northern Territory rests on this. Her family shouldn't have to fight for answers."

Ching had just started work for Conway, a powerful, well-known camel exporter, cattle rancher and resort operator, at Kings Creek Station, a sprawling outpost 450 kilometres southwest of Alice Springs. She was on a working holiday visa.

About a dozen people, including the backpacking Richmond resident, were gathered that evening outside the bunkhouse where two on-site helicopter pilots lived.

The veranda was lit by lanterns made of sawed-off beer cans containing a mixture of sand and helicopter fuel.

According to a cursory description of the accident in a workers' compensation form completed by Conway: "Pilot refilled a can, tipped it over--exploded. The fuel ignited the pilot's arm and he threw the fuel towards where the others were sitting and the ignited fuel landed on Cynthia." She spent the next two hours howling with pain, standing in the shower, covered in a plastic sheet, until a "flying doctor" plane landed on the ranch airstrip to take her to Alice Springs. From there, she was transported to the country's top burn treatment unit in Adelaide.

Severe burns covered 55 percent of her body. She died of the terrible damage and infections on May 27, devastating members of her close-knit family who had flown to Australia to be with her. More than 700 people attended Ching's funeral in Richmond.