Western Power blackout hits 38,000 homes in WA

Thousands of homes have been left without power following pole fires in the early morning.

Thousands of homes have been left without power after a drizzle of rain sparked pole fires, a power company has confirmed.

Tens of thousands of residents across WA’s central and south west coast woke up without power on Saturday morning after rainfall throughout Friday night.

Provider Western Power said pole top fires can occur during light drizzling rain or misty damp conditions when a combination of dust and pollution builds up to create paths or ‘tracks’ on the insulators. This tracking electricity can heat poles to a point where they smoulder and burn.

Western Power crews are working to restore supply to around 38,000 homes and business in the Perth Metropolitan area, the Midwest and Wheatbelt regions.

In total, the company said there were 140 separate incidents.

Dozens of hazards have been reported overnight and outage numbers are expected to fluctuate throughout today.

It’s estimated that more than 7000 homes in Perth’s north, from Scarborough to Trigg, are without power, with the time to restore set as “unknown.”

Western Power says there is 140 incidences currently impacting the network: Picture Supplied

Locals first reported the incident at 6.16am.

In a statement, Western Power said they understood customer frustrations.
Western Power told those who have been impacted it might take a while to fix – in some instances more than eight hours.

Western Power Executive Asset Operations Zane Christmas said work was continually underway to minimise the risk of pole top fires across the network to increase resilience.

“We appreciate the inconvenience and frustration outages can cause. Please be assured we are working as quickly as possible to safely restore power to customers,” he said.

“Our network maintenance programs are constantly improving the way our assets are managed, including the 860,000 poles in the network.

“We have a comprehensive poles and wires maintenance program and a preventive program which includes siliconing and washing, insulator replacements, managing trees and vegetation near wires, and high-pressure cleaning of insulators.

Mr Christmas said mitigation treatments were prioritised based on risk.

“We give priority to areas of increased risk such as those in extreme and high bushfire risk areas,” he said.

“Western Power is continuing to explore new technologies and techniques to help reduce the risk of pole top fires and ensure safe and reliable power supply in the Western Power network.”

Originally published as Western Power blackout hits 38,000 homes in WA