4.45pm

ELECTRICITY will progressively be restored to Powercor customers during the afternoon and evening.

An electrical inspector will need to visit each home to check the wiring, and make sure it is safe to reconnect power supply.

Customers will need to be home before inspectors are able to switch their power back on.

Anyone with questions can contact Powercor on 13 24 12.

4pm

THE outage has disappeared from the Powercor website, but Quarry Hill residents are still without power.

Nick Christian, who lives in Gladstone Street, was sitting at home on Wednesday morning when his lights started flickering.

"Then everything went haywire," he said.

Mr Christian's central heating started turning itself on.

"I haven't used the central heating in two years," he said.

OTHER NEWS:

Outside, his power switchboard was smoking so he turned it off.

Inside, his phone was on charge when the charger blew up.

Mr Christian said the phone was undamaged.

He said he had received texts from Powercor saying power would be restored by 2pm, but he was still waiting.

Powercor has been contacted for comment.

1pm

POWERCOR says power should be restored to Quarry Hill customers by 2pm.

There are 138 customers who remain without power after an issue with a neutral circuit conductor caused blackouts and fires on Wednesday morning.

A Powercor spokesperson said the company was investigating the issue.

12.30pm

RESIDENTS say they saw a spark as large as a basketball when a power line came down in Quarry Hill on Wednesday morning.

Quarry Hill resident Saraya Arman said her and her partner were at their Gladstone Street home about 8.30am when the lights in her property blew out.

"There was a really loud popping noise," she said. "We went around the house and saw other lights weren't working either.

"So we went to our electricity box and we saw all of the circuit breakers were sparking and crackling as they were tripping.

"We stepped back and thought it wasn't good. We didn't turn anything else off because we didn't want to touch anything."

Ms Arman and her partner went out to the front of their property and saw that a power line at the corner of Gladstone and Breen Streets had fallen away from one of the houses.

"A power line across the road had come down onto the roof across the road from us," she said. "We saw a spark the size of a basketball.

"It was just glowing on the tin roof. From there, it fell down and was resting on the fence of the house."

Neighbours called the Country Fire Authority who were already attending other incidents in the area.

The CFA were on scene within 10 minutes and contained the situation. Powercor has also been notified.

"Powercor has told us the power will probably be off for most of today," Ms Arman said.

"We've been told that in our situation, we will probably also need an electrician to look at our electricity box to see if it needs to be replaced.

"We won't know how much damage there's been until the power has been turned back on."

Ms Arman said she hadn't been told if she would be eligible for compensation from Powercor.

11.50am

Power crews have found an "issue" with a neutral circuit conductor in Quarry Hill, which has caused variation to voltage levels, causing blackouts and fires this morning.

Powercor said in a statement that the type of fault is rare, and the company was investigating why it had occurred.

Electricity remains out to 138 customers in Quarry Hill.

Customers whose property has been damaged by unauthorised voltage variations may be entitled to compensation under industry guidelines.

An unauthorised voltage variation is when voltage is either higher or lower than levels set by the Essential Services Commission. Australia's standard electricity supply has a voltage of 230.

Power companies are not required to compensate customers who experience loss or damage in the case of electricity outages, such as if food spoils because a fridge or freezer is not working.

Inspectors will be working with Powercor customers to check equipment to make sure it is safe to restore power.

Customers can contact Powercor on 13 24 12. Information about filing compensation claims is available on Powercor's website.

11.28am

POWERCOR has isolated the transformer responsible for the Quarry Hill blackout.

Bendigo senior station officer Craig Houlahan said the service would now perform a risk assessment to determine when power could be restored.

He said Country Fire Authority crews would remain on scene at the Queens Arms Hotel until the Health Department arrived to determine the extent of smoke damage.

The roundabout has now fully re-opened to traffic.

11am

A NUMBER of mobile phone chargers caught alight during the power surge on Wednesday morning.

"A couple of mobile phone chargers caught on fire," Bendigo Sergeant Jason Hawke said.

"Luckily no one was injured or hurt."

Sergeant Hawke confirmed it was St Joseph's school's decision to evacuate and close for the day

Power has been restored to traffic lights via a generator at the intersection of Olinda and Russell streets and police are no longer directing traffic.

However, the southbound lane from the Russell Street roundabout near the Queens Arms Hotel remains blocked.

Powercor crews are working on power lines near St Joseph's school.

The estimated restoration time for power is 1pm.

10.45am

STUDENTS have been evacuated from St Joseph's Primary School after extensive power outages in Quarry Hill.

The school posted on its Facebook page to say students would need to be collected.

The post said St Joseph's was unable to enter its buildings after losing power.

Parents were asked to see their child's teacher before taking them home.

Bendigo Sergeant Hayley Smith confirmed there was smoke in one of the school's portable classrooms.

10.15am

COUNTRY Cakes owner Doug Clarkson said the blackout was costing him a few thousand dollars every hour due to wages, food waste and lost sales.

Shop manager Maria Blencowe was in the store when the lights started flicking and safety switches started going on and off about 8.45am.

She said within 20 minutes, all the power went out.

Ms Blencowe said power poles outside the bakery started making banging noises, and caps from the poles popped off and landed on the ground.

She did not see any smoke or fires, but there was an electrical smell in the air.

10am

A SPIKE in power has caused fires in at least five Quarry Hill homes on Wednesday morning.

Country Fire Authority crews have contained the blazes.

More than 100 homes remain without power.

Bendigo senior station officer Craig Houlahan said it appeared there was a spike in power when a 415-volt supply crossed over into a 240-volt supply.

He said along with the five fires, there was smoke in the Queens Arms Hotel.

A number of street lights in the area were also affected.

Mr Houlahan urged residents to check their houses for any smoke or fire and to contact triple zero if they saw either.

He said people should also check the Powercor website for updates.

A Powercor spokeswoman said a fault on the low voltage network affected power supply to 138 customers in Quarry Hill just before 9am.

"We have an electrical inspector on the way to the site and they will work with the crew to restore power to customers as safely and as quickly as possible," she said.

She estimated power would be restored by 1pm.

"We will continue keeping customers updated via SMS, our website and our call centre," she said.

"We thank customers for their patience as we work to get power back on safely."

Police are still directing drivers at the Olinda-Russell streets intersection, as the traffic lights remain out.

9.30am

CFA have been called to the scene of fallen power lines in Breen Street, Quarry Hill.

Power is out to 138 Powercor customers in the suburb.

Firefighters were also called to reports of smoke coming from an electrical meter at the Queens Arms Hotel, Quarry Hill. A spokesperson said there was no fire at the address.

OTHER NEWS:

Russell Street is blocked to southbound traffic at its intersection with Gladstone Street. Highway Patrol are directing traffic at the intersection of Olinda and Russell streets.

Powercor have been contacted for comment.

Earlier:

POWER is out to 138 Powercor customers in Quarry Hill.

The traffic lights at the intersection of Olinda Street and Russell Street have stopped working, near the Queens Arms Hotel.

CFA was called to an incident at that address about 9am today.

Power is expected to be restored by 11am. The cause of the outage is being investigated.

More to come.

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