And a power outage in that kind of heat is unfortunate for a business selling ice-cream. 

Min Min Store owner Val Spilsbury said she needed to send about six employees home for the day, who would miss out on their wages, after the blackout which began about 8.15am was not fixed at noon. 

Water from the cold water taps was hot, the air-conditioning was not working and the freezers storing perishable food were broken down. 

The store owner said about midday yesterday she had not opened the freezers to check the ice-cream she stored, to conserve the temperature. 

“I am just praying everything is holding,” Mrs Spilsbury said. 

The blackout affected other businesses including the police station  and a petrol station.

Mrs Spilsbury  said Boulia Shire Council employees were also sent home from work. 

She said the local power station attendant visited Mount Isa for health reasons when the blackout happened, which meant there was nobody else able to fix the problem. 

She reported the blackout to an electrical company representative, who said she would not officially record the complaint. 

The store owner was warned that she could be fined a large amount of money if the power outage was to do with the company’s switchboard. 

An Australian Hotel Motel spokeswoman said the pub was not affected by the blackout, but she knew of several houses and other Boulia businesses that were affected by it. 

Ergon Energy Townsville Corporate Communications Manager John Fowler said the company had no indication of a widespread outage on its Boulia network when contacted by the North West Star about 1pm. 

Mr Fowler later said there was an issue with the town’s generator, but power was restored to about 20 customers by 2.30pm. 

“The power station attendant was in Mount Isa at the time,” he said. 

“The power station can be activated remotely but on this occasion could not because of technical issues until his return from Mount Isa.”