Bird knocks out power in Benalla for several hours

While flames were quickly extinguished, the electrical equipment was offline, with power cables no longer connected.

An AusNet spokesperson said it turned out a nesting bird had caused all the problems.

“A bird had built a nest with some wire next to the switcher box, causing the power outage at 8.30 yesterday morning,” the spokesperson said.

“This impacted around 800 AusNet customers. All customers had their power restored just after 11am.”

Firefighters remained on the scene until AusNet could arrange traffic control so a repair could be undertaken.

The bird is missing, presumed deceased.