The primary fault caused a power outtage at 5.09pm on Wednesday, Powercor spokesperson Avi Tan said. The secondary outtage followed the fuel tanker crash which occurred at about 7.45pm. 

Powercor could not replace the poles until the truck was removed by emergency services, which occurred after 11am on Thursday. 

“All those affected by the secondary outtage were back on just before 5pm yesterday after we replaced the HV poles,” Ms Tan. 

“Then we attended the primary fault which left about 149 customers offline until about 8pm last night.

After 8pm, full power was restored to Inglewood.”

UPDATE, FRIDAY 7.15am: The Calder Highway has reopened following Wednesday night’s fuel tanker rollover. 

Traffic is being restricted to one lane through the township of Inglewood and the CFA is urging motorists to take care when driving through the area.

The CFA has also issued an “all clear” advice message for residents in the area. People are now able to resume normal activities as the liquid spill is safe.

Safety Instructions:

UPDATE, 4.50pm: The fuel spill at Inglewood has again been downgraded by the CFA.

The latest alert said flammable liquid remains at the site as does a strong smell of fumes.

The Calder Highway remains closed. Residents should check the VicRoads website for more details.

A Relief Centre is currently open at Inglewood Senior Citizens Centre, Grant Street, Inglewood.

The next update is expected at 8pm.

UPDATE, 3.20pm: The CFA has downgraded the alert at Inglewood.

An alert was re-issued at 2.30pm to say the hazardous liquid spill is now under control.

The Calder Highway remains closed and traffic detours are still in place due to flammable liquid still contaminating the site.

A community meeting was held at 3pm and the next update is expected at 5pm.

UPDATE 1pm: A community information session will be held at 3pm at the Inglewood Primary School on Sullivan Street.

Police are continuing to investigate the cause of the crash and urge anyone who witnessed the incident or with any information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential crime report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au. 

The driver of the truck, a 50-year-old Wagga man, was taken to hospital with minor injuries. 

UPDATE 11am: Powercor says an extraordinary “co-incidence” may have prevented a disaster at Inglewood overnight when a truck crashed into two high-voltage power lines spilling tens of thousands of litre of fuel.

The power lines happened to be out due to a routine power failure, Powercor spokesperson Avi Tan said.

“I assume it would have been quite a disaster [if the power lines had been live] – not being on site it is conjecture at this point – but fuel and electricty don’t exactly mix,” Ms Tan said. 

Ms Tan said 638 premises in Inglewood were without power from 5.09pm yesterday. At about 7.45pm the fuel tanker crashed into two high-voltage power lines which Powercor now has to replace before it can restore power to the town. 

“We were able to reroute the power to some customers but there are currently 619 still without power and there is no one to get power to them other than to replace the HV poles,” she said.

“Here’s where it gets complicated – we haven’t been able to get our people to access to site as emergency services are still removing the truck from the scene and we can’t access it until they do so.

“But replacing HV poles takes about six hours, so once we do get access to the site we’ll be able to commence work and expect it could take that long to get power back online.”

UPDATE: 10.40pm: Emergency services expect to have the truck upright within the next half an hour.

Fire crews and police remain at the scene, with dozens of onlookers.

One onlooker - Corey Gooch - lives less than 100 metres from the crash scene.

He said it was one of the loudest bangs they had heard.

"There are crashes all the time on this stretch of road so we've become used to the noise, sort of like a bang and a scrape," he said.

"We all rushed out to have a look, luckily the driver was OK as far as we know.

"After that it was just the flashing lights. They set up the spotlight in front of our house so none of us have been able to get much sleep."

Mr Gooch said the petrol tanker was just the latest truck to crash on the corner. They have had an orange truck, paper truck and gravel truck almost end up in their front yard in recent years.

Steve Smith, from the CFA addressed the media half an hour ago.

He said residents were still encouraged to stay away from the scene, with the call to evacuate not just a precaution measure.

UPDATE 10.18am: Loddon Shire acting CEO Marg Allan says the council is providing emergency services with support, accommodating people who could not return to their homes and helping to divert traffic from the Calder Highway which remains closed following a truck crash in Inglewood which cut power and spilled more than 50,000 of fuel. 

Ms Allan said that eight people spent the night in a relief centre set up for those who could not return to their homes because of the spill. 

“Twenty signed up but we encouraged people to stay with friends or family if possible.

“My understanding is that there is still a number of people at the centre and we will look after them until it is safe for them to go home.”

Ms Allan said it would be up to emergency services to determine when that would be.

“But we’ll run the centre as long as it is needed,” she said. 

Ms Allan said the shires current focus was on short-term measures to support the services responding to the emergency hazardous material incident.

“We’ll continue to operate the relief centre to provide support and we have an operations team in Inglewood working with the site control team and we’ve in Wedderburn making sure they have the support and equipment they need,” Ms Allan said. 

“Vicroads is running a detour onto one of our roads and we’re making sure we've got appropriately manned detour points and signage.

“We’re in the hands of the incident control team at the moment – which the CFA is leading – and it is really important we get the road cleaned up.

“Then we’ll focus on a longer-term response.” 

UPDATE 10am: The EPA says it has began works to contain contamination at Inglewood following the spill of tens of thousands of litres of fuel and diesel in Inglewood overnight – but that a complete cleanup of the site could take weeks.  

EPA North West acting-manager Danny Childs said the Environment Protection Authority erected soil walls in the drainage system, containing a contaminants to a 1.5-kilometre radius around the crash site. 

“Our focus for the next 24- to 48-hours period is to ensure bund walls are in place, asses the extent of the contamination and work with emergency services,” Mr Childs said.

“We’ll put a cleanup plan in place once the emergency services have cleared the site.

“But from my experience, cleanup from an incident like this is likely to take several weeks.” 

Mr Childs could not yet provide an estimate of how much the cleanup was likely to cost, or even which agency would lead remediation works. 

“We will work with other agencies and consultants in regards to the cleanup – but we can say that the cleanup will be completed to satisfaction of the EPA,” he said.

“Our priority now is to allow emergency services to do their job and to contain contamination.  

“From there we need to work out the size of the particular area we’ll need to focus on and excavate the soil and work out a suitable location for the contaminated soil to be disposed of.

“Then it will be about remediating the site back to its original condition.”

Mr Childs said an EPA officer attended the scene of the crash last night and once on site again.

“It’s still a hot-zone but we’ve been able to get a bit closer this morning and our observations at this point is that approximately 53,000 litres has been spilled,” he said.  

UPDATE 8.45am: The CFA has issued an updated emergency warning for the crash area.

People are still being warned to not enter the area as it is extremely dangerous.

A relief centre has been set up at the Inglewood Senior Citizens Centre.

Emergency services are continuing to deal with the spill and are emptying the fuel tanker. 

The highway will remain closed and power out until the vehicle has been removed.

UPDATE 8.30am: Several people spent the night at a relief centre set up at the Inglewood Senior Citizens Centre.

CFA incident controller Steve Smith said dozens of people were relocated to the centre last night, with most finding alternate accommodation with family and friends.

“We will keep the emergency warning in place until we’re satisfied the danger has gone,” he said.

The fuel tanker is still on its side, with specialists from Melbourne assessing the safest way to remove it.

“We’re just looking at how best to put the vehicle back on it’s wheels,” Mr Smith said at 8.15am.

Environment Protection Authority officers and environmental scientists are also on scene to assess the fuel spill once the tanker has been removed.

The 50,000-litre tanker was carrying a mixed load of petrol and diesel.

Power will remain out until the fuel tanker is removed. 

Victoria Police, CFA, SES and MFB crews also remain on scene.

Specialist equipment is also being used to monitor the level of toxic fumes in the air.

UPDATE 7.45am: Police are still investigating the cause of last’s night crash, which has closed the Calder Highway for 12 hours and left more than 600 homes without power.

It is believed the fuel tanker was travelling north on the Calder Highway about 7.45pm when it lost control entering Inglewood on a sweeping bend, police said.

The tanker rolled onto its side, crashing into fences and a power pole near the intersection of Grant Street, and spilling its load.

Crews are still working to clear the scene and the Calder Highway will be closed for some time.

The driver of the truck was taken to hospital with minor injuries.

UPDATE 7.30am: The Calder Highway remains closed between Bridgewater and Inglewood after a fuel tanker rollover last night.

Crews remain on scene dealing with the hazardous petrol and diesel spill on the Calder Highway and Heales Street in Inglewood. 

People are warned to not enter the area as it is extremely dangerous with toxic and flammable fumes being released.

The CFA has issued an emergency warning advising people in the area to leave immediately. 

“Emergency services may not be able to help you if you choose to stay,” the warning reads.

A watch and act message is also in place for residents in Inglewood.

About 600 homes remain without power and are not expected to be reconnected until midday.

Safety Information:

UPDATE, 9.15pm: Wycheproof SES crew members are en route to the scene with a lighting trailer.

Police, CFA, Ambulance and the EPA are all on scene working to contain and control the fuel leak.

UPDATE, 8.45pm: A CFA spokesman has confirmed petrol and diesel are leaking in the area of the crash.

He said police were assisting with the effort and evacuating some houses.

CFA crews from Inglewood and Bridgewater are on scene while crews from Eaglehawk and Ballarat are on their way with specialised equipment.

The EPA has also been advised of the fuel leak and will be attending the scene.

UPDATE, 8.20pm: An Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman said a petrol tanker has rolled on the Calder Highway in Inglewood.

Paramedics were called to the scene at 7.45pm.

The driver of the vehicle is free from the truck and has no significant injuries.

It is believed the tanker has struck a power line.

The Powercor website now estimates power will return to the Inglewood area at 2.30am.

EARLIER: Emergency services are responding to a road accident at Inglewood.

According to the Vic Emergency website three emergency crews are responding.

At the same time, more than 600 customers have lost power in the Inglewood area.

The Powercor website says the cause is under investigation and that services are expected to be reestablish power at about 8.30pm.

More to come.