A contested hearing into the St Patrick's Day fires started in Warrnambool Magistrates Court this week, with magistrate Kieran Gilligan and legal representatives attending the site where two clashing conductors sparked what was known as the Terang/Cobden fire in March 2018.

Powercor faces six charges relating to two incidents, one involving the clashing conductors that sparked a fire and destroyed more than 20 homes, and the second relating to a power pole that snapped on a property at The Sisters, sparking a fire known as the Garvoc blaze, which wiped out at least two houses, 4000 hectares and livestock.

An Energy Safe Victoria enforcement officer said he first arrived at the Terang site about 6.30pm on March 18, 2018.

He told the court he was asked to meet two police detectives at the site, located west of Powercor's Terang substation, and observed a freshly burnt area of the ground, where the blaze had taken off in a southerly direction and "wiping out a vast amount of area".

He said there was evidence of "shine damage", which occured when two conductors make contact with each other, causing them to short circuit, melt or get "very, very hot".

He said a video recorded in 2018 by a Powercor asset performance officer showed the conductor's range of movement, which he said was "indicative of what could be expected as a conductor clash occurring".

He said that indication was "significant enough to provide reasonable doubt from my perspective that that was most likely the cause".

The hearing continues on Wednesday.

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