Why Engadine is its own case
Bush on one side, a valley on the other
The national park flanks the town to the east and the land drops steeply to the Woronora River in the west. Back in 1951, the local progress association was already noting that the park left Engadine vulnerable to bushfire.
Houses from two eras
Crown land was released for private buyers in the 1960s, and the last parcels in North Engadine and Woronora Heights were built on in the 1990s. Many homes are either one or the other.
Owners, not renters
At the 2021 Census, 79.4% of Engadine's 6,017 occupied homes were separate houses and only 13.5% were rented. 37.6% were owned outright.
On Ausgrid's network
Engadine is inside Ausgrid's network area. The January 1994 fires reached neighbouring Heathcote, and when lines come down in this area it's Ausgrid that repairs them.
When the power drops in a storm or a fire
Is it only your house?
Look at the neighbours and Ausgrid's outage map. If the street is out, an electrician can't help; Ausgrid can.
Report fallen or sparking lines
Call Ausgrid on 13 13 88 and keep at least 8 metres away. If anyone's life is in danger, call 000 first.
If only your home is out
Look at the switchboard through its door. A tripped safety switch can be reset once. If it trips again, leave it off and call a sparky.
Before you leave on a bad fire day
Know where the main switch is and that your smoke alarms work. NSW requires a working alarm on every level of the home.
What a 1960s Engadine switchboard usually needs
Boards from the early estates often still have rewireable ceramic fuses and few or no safety switches. NSW Fair Trading strongly recommends that homes built before 2000 have a licensed electrician check whether safety switches are fitted, and it recommends one on every circuit.
The board itself can matter too. Black or dark brown backing boards made before 1987 can contain asbestos, and some old Federal fuses may have asbestos inside the carrier. Don't drill or sand near it. An electrician who does switchboard upgrades will tell you how they'll handle it before the work starts.
Our take for a bush-edge house
If your board still has fuses, we'd get it upgraded with safety switches before adding anything else, and we'd ask the same electrician to check the smoke alarms while they're there. One visit, one CCEW, and you go into fire season knowing the basics are sound. Give us your postcode and the job, and we'll match you with one licence-checked local sparky who does switchboards.
Want a specialist to sort it?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match the licence-checked local electrician who does this kind of work, and they call you. No ring-around, and your number goes to them alone.