REVEALED: More than 70 WA powerline bays at risk of clashing and causing blaze similar to Wickepin fire

More than 70 power line bays in bushfire-prone WA are at risk of “coming together” and “clashing” in a similar way to those that sparked a blaze that destroyed 18,000ha and killed hundreds of sheep near Wickepin, it can be revealed. Western Power was ordered to fix three power line bays after a large-scale audit of the energy provider’s network was carried out in the months after a devastating bushfire razed farms and bushland in the Wickepin and Narrogin areas on February 6. The Wickepin blaze, which started near the intersection of Williams-Kondinin and Armstrong Roads, was “caused by the coming together of powerlines” in 40C temperatures. Probing by Countryman earlier this year revealed the lines had been drooping and sagging, with windy conditions causing them to sway and touch together, starting the fire. Western Power knew the lines were a risk and had planned to fix them by February 22, but failed to do so before the catastrophic blaze on the weekend of February 5-6. A question by WA Liberal MLC Steve Martin in State Parliament late last month and answered by WA Commerce Minister Roger Cook revealed a further 73 — believed to be spread across the South West Land Division — were also marked to be problematic. However, the shorter length of the “sagging” lines mean they are less likely to clash. “Seventy three other power line bays of similar construction, but shorter lengths, were also identified for remediation,” Mr Cook said. A Western Power spokeswoman said there was a “refined” plan to address “potential risks at several sites where conductors are shorter in length but have similar constructions”, but could not confirm how many sites and where they would be fixed. “From inspections, several bays have been identified for remediation work,” she said. “Temporary works will be completed at a number of sites by November 30 before a more permanent remediation can be done. “We anticipate this work will be carried out by the end of 2023.” Western Power fixed two bays at Balbarrup and Dingup (both less than 15km from Manjimup) on November 30 and December 1, and fixed a third at Picton (7km east of Bunbury) on December 13 after determining they were similar to the Wickepin power bay. A bay is a powerline within an electrical substation which connects a circuit (such as a power line or transformer) to a busbar, and typically includes circuit breakers, disconnectors, instrument transformers and surge arresters. Hundreds of firefighters were deployed to battle the Wickepin-Narrogin fire, which was one of four that burned at an emergency level during the horror weekend of February 5-6. More than 60,000ha was destroyed by the Corrigin-Shackleton, Narrogin-Wickepin, Denmark and Bridgetown fires, which marked the first time four-out-of-control and emergency level infernos had burned in WA at the same time. About 10,000 sheep were killed or had to be euthanised after the two Wheatbelt fires, while up to 5000 pigs were killed or severely injured at a grow out facility owned by one of Westpork’s long-term contract farmers east of Narrogin. A Building and Energy spokeswoman said a plan was in progress to address “possible clashing risks where there are conductors of a shorter length and a similar construction” and explained what temporary methods may be put in place. “Temporary management may involve adding “spreaders” to stabilise power line conductors and reduce the risk of clashing,” she said. “New poles may then be added and conductors replaced on a permanent basis.” Mr Martin called on the State Government to release a Building and Energy investigation into the Wickepin fire as soon as possible, and to also reveal the location of the 73 bays and whether they would be remediated to reduce the risk of clashing. “The fire was in February and it is now the middle of December. . . and just three lines have been fixed,” he said. “It is a staggering amount of time that has passed and we still do not have the investigation. “The lack of transparency around what the investigation has discovered is alarming, we don’t know if they are as bad as the Wickepin fire or less dangerous. . . but either way they have not been fixed. “We don’t know the scale of the problem and it is not much comfort for people in regional WA.” A review into the Wickepin-Narrogin fire is still ongoing, with Western Power and Building and Energy unable to give a date of when it will be released. “The aim of such an investigation is firstly to find the cause of the incident and to request corrective actions to be implemented to reduce the risks of similar occurrences in the future,” the Building and Energy spokeswoman said. “So far the investigation has already established that the lines clashed and started the fire. This is not disputed. “The remaining part of the investigation is to establish whether the network operator could have foreseen the accident and prevented it and whether the risks were being managed to as low as reasonably practicable or not, at the time of the incident. “This involves computer modelling and reviewing records to establish how the asset in question was being managed at the time among other factors.”