Electricity crews are working hard to remedy power issues across the region as the fire crisis moves into day three.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Essential Energy believes 651 homes and businesses are without power as a result of this fire.
This includes the entire town of Bundarra as well as parts of Kingstown, Tingha, Yarrowyck and along the Old Armidale Road towards Guyra.
If the fire does not impact the electricity network further, crews hope to be able to restore power today.
A generator was connected to a section of the electricity network in Kingstown this morning and is now providing power to a small area - the store, hall, fire shed and school.
This is in addition to a generator which was connected to a section of the electricity network in Bundarra last night which is powering the evacuation centre and parts of the main street, including the local fuel station, shop and hotel.
READ MORE:
Essential Energy's primary focus is repairing the secondary powerline to Bundarra from Tingha so that power can be restored to the Bundarra township.
While repairs to this powerline were almost complete yesterday, prior to crews needing to be removed from the work area due to safety concerns, the fire yesterday afternoon and overnight has caused further damage including a further 10 damaged power poles and multiple fallen powerlines.
“Provided the fires don’t cause more damage to the electricity network, crews hope to be able to restore power to most customers impacted by an unplanned power outage from the Tingha Plateau and Linton fires today,” Essential Energy’s Operations Manager Northern Tablelands, Mark Summers, said.
There is concern that the secondary powerline between Tingha and Bundarra will again be impacted by fire, so crews are also working to make repairs on the main powerline to Bundarra from Inverell.
Aerial inspections are continuing and already seven power poles have been identified as needing to be replaced.
Additional crews and equipment from Moree and Narrabri are now also helping crews from Armidale, Glen Innes, Guyra, Inverell Tamworth and Warialda with repairs.