Yorkeys Knob accident causes beaches blackout

More than 3000 residents in Cairns’ northern suburbs have experienced three power outages in just two days. Here’s what’s caused the blackouts.

Ergon crews worked through Wednesday night to fix the network and get the power back on after a vehicle accident caused a major outage at Yorkeys Knob. Photo: Ergon Energy Network (Facebook)

Residents in Cairns’ northern suburbs have experienced three extended power outages in just two days.

Yorkeys Knob, Smithfield, Trinity Beach and Trinity Park were plunged into darkness for up to four hours on Wednesday night after a car crashed into a power pole on Yorkeys Knob Road.

A Ergon Energy spokeswoman confirmed more than 3000 customers at Yorkeys Knob, Smithfield and Trinity Park lost power at 8.15pm.

“Thanks to Ergon crews, around half of those properties had power safely restored before midnight,” she said.

“Our crews worked through the night to repair the network damage and all remaining customers were safely reconnected just before 2am.”

The Queensland Ambulance Service was called to the scene at 8.24pm after a single vehicle crashed into the pole opposite the service station.

One stable patient was transported the Cairns Hospital.

While the accident was responsible for Wednesday’s blackout, residents in the area have been frustrated by a number of outages over the past couple of days.

A car accident cut power to residents in the Cairns Northern Beaches on Wednesday evening. Photo: Facebook

“I’m honestly sick of it, how many times in the past day alone,” Smithfield Village resident Ayla Sims wrote on social media.

“I’m in Trinity Beach, Roberts Drive and my power flicked on and off. But still have power,” Scott Morton added.

The Ergon spokeswoman confirmed there were two brief unplanned outages affecting customers in Yorkeys Knob, Smithfield and Trinity Park on Tuesday.

“After a fault call from a customer, for safety reasons power was interrupted from approximately 7.30am to 9.30am while Ergon crews conducted fault-finding patrols on the network,” she said.

“This was followed by a 20-minute outage for emergency repairs at around 3.15pm. “Customers can rest assured we have crews on standby to respond 24/7 to any power outages and a faults team available to take calls around the clock.”

Residents in the Redlynch Valley also had their power out on Tuesday with a planned outage scheduled from 8.30am to 2.30pm.

Originally published as Yorkeys Knob accident causes beaches blackout