Power out in Inverloch for 18 hours after accident
The damage to an electrical transformer in Inverloch cut power to 209 homes in the Royal Parade area on Friday evening with power not being restored until 12.20pm on Saturday, some 18 hours later.
“WHO in their right mind would put an electrical distribution box that close to a driveway?”
That was just one of the comments received on social media after a visitor to a house in Royal Parade Inverloch backed over an electrical transformer, located on the nature strip less than a metre from the curved driveway, and sparked a fire around 5.45pm on Friday, January 2, 2026.
“The box was there first. Who in their right mind designs a house with a driveway right next to the electrical?” was another comment.
The damage cut power to 209 homes in Royal Parade and surrounding streets with Ausnet initially advising that power would not return until construction crews could repair the damage, estimated to take until 4pm Saturday, January 3.
But by 12.20pm, power was being restored.
A spokesperson for Ausnet told the Sentinel-Times a specialised crew needed to be called out to attended to the repair work, which together with the complex nature of the work was the reason for the delay.
“We initially gave the restoration time as 4pm but we’ve finished ahead of schedule and power is being restored as we speak,” said Ausnet at about 12.20pm on Saturday.
“The transformer is very important to the distribution of power to the area and (the damage caused) is the reason for the outage.
“We apologise to customers for the inconvenience and thank them for their patience while repairs were being affected,” she said.
The fire was attended by the Inverloch and Wonthaggi Fire Brigades and local police.
Witnesses to the incident said a driver, not familiar with the area, accidently backed over the transformer, and further damaged it by driving forward again.
“There was a burst of flames, rising into the air higher than the can then it started popping and crackling and shower of sparks came out, two or three metres into the air.”
“There was no explosion,” said another resident, further along Royal Parade.
“But you could hear the popping and crackling from back here,” they said, looking at the response by the fire brigade from more than 100 metres away.
“It was a bit of a shock,” said another.
Fire brigade personnel initially held off on dousing the flames while they assessed its cause, and whether it involved live wires but donned full breathing apparatus in response to the acrid smoke rising from the electrical fire, and used a dry chemical extinguisher to quell the flames.
They remained on the scene for some time afterwards and police cordoned off the area, to all but local traffic, as a safety precaution.
