A drone has been blamed for wiping out power to around 3000 Western Power customers on Tuesday night after it crashed into powerlines in Kingsley.

The incident occurred just after 7pm with customers reporting a power line had fallen across the road near the corner of Kingsley Avenue and Whitfords Drive.

Andy Shaw, Western Power Head of Safety, said an emergency response crew attended to make the area safe. A network operations team restored power about 8pm, redirecting electricity through unaffected parts of the grid.

“The cause of the outage is believed to be from a drone flying in to the network after reports from customers of a drone flying in the area moments before the outage,” Mr Shaw said.

“The drone was then reported to have been picked up by a member of the public after the line had been brought down.”

Worryingly, Mr Shaw said, a member of the public potentially put their safety at risk to collect the downed drone soon after the crash.

“What is concerning is the report of a person allegedly coming close to a fallen powerline to retrieve some of their property, and not thought to make the safe call and stay away from a potential electrical hazard,” he said

“We always treat these types of hazards as an emergency incident and will send the closest crew, under lights and sirens, to attend to ensure the community is safe from the potential of electric shock.”

Anyone who sees a fallen powerline are advised to keep at least eight meters clear of the hazard and call Western Power immediately on 13 13 51.