On the 16th a bushfire burning out of control near the town of Benalla in Victoria's North East caused power to be cut to much of the state when ash and smoke severed major transmission powerlines connecting Victoria to the national power grid. The 40 °C temperature caused a huge demand for power which, when paired with the severing of the line, forced power company's to impose rolling blackouts across the state, including power loss to parts of Melbourne which resulted in traffic problems across the city. Full power was restored at approximately 12:30 am the following day.