BIG POWER OUTAGE AT HIGHFIELDS

Highfields residents left in dark after 12-hour blackout

HIGHFIELDS residents were left without power for about 12 hours after two power poles began sparking on the corner of Cawdor and Kratze Rds.

Queensland Fire and Emergency crews attended the scene about 10.30pm on Sunday and found two crossarms on power poles were sending out sparks because of storm activity.

A vault line had come away from the poles and was hanging loose, causing the power outage.

About 2200 people were left without power, with traffic lights also out across the town.

As thick fog settled in yesterday morning police urged motorists to drive to the conditions, with headlights on.

Ergon Energy crews attended the site and by 9am about 1300 homes had power again, with crews fully restoring power to the area by 11am.

Ergon Energy southern region communications manager Rod Rehbein said the Toowoomba team worked as fast as they could to restore power.

“About 900 people regained power early in the morning as we were able to reroute their supply but we had crews working on fixing it for all affected homes and businesses,” he said.

Coles in Highfields was left in darkness until 10am and staff were forced to strip its fridges and freezers of cold food, costing thousands of dollars.

The store has a back-up generator but it only lasted four hours.

Throughout the day the cold food was restocked starting with cold meats and milk.

The Highfields Meringandan Community Facebook page was a buzz with people talking about the blackout, keeping each other informed on updates.

Resident Kristie Bazley showed true Highfields community spirit when she offered to warm milk for anyone who had a hungry baby.

She has a coffee van, Kristie’s Cruisin’ Coffee, and said people were welcome to visit her for free if they needed warm milk or a coffee fix.

Lorraine Stammers said: “Community spirit shining through. What a lovely gesture.”

Eva Swinney said: “Your post put a smile in my heart.”

Tanya Cowell said: “So lovely to see kind community spirit. I love living in a beautiful place where people are so caring.”