Ergon Energy crews have had to replace two fire-damaged power poles after what’s thought to have been a hazard reduction burn on a Central Queensland property.
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Ergon area manager Brian Dingle said the incident highlighted the dangers people conducting burns could pose if the fires get too close to power poles and other electrical assets.
“Crews responded to an outage near Ogmore on Saturday and found two poles in a burnt-out section of land,” Dingle said.
“Most property owners leave their burn-off until late in winter, but this is a timely reminder that landholders need to be careful when they’re using fire on their properties, especially where there are power poles and other electrical assets.”
Landholders can also use the lookupandlive.com app to locate poles on their property.
Dingle said 413 customers were without power when the poles came down at 4.42am on Saturday, and it took until 5pm before crews were able get power back on to all customers.
“In addition to the inconvenience of widespread power disruptions, fallen powerlines can cause serious injury or even death to people and livestock that come into contact with it,” he said.
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“To minimise the chances of fire damaging power poles and property, property owners should trim or clear any long grass, foliage and rubbish within a five-metre radius of their electricity infrastructure and remain with any controlled burns they carry out.”
