A SUSPECTED power surge in Mornington and Mt Martha is believed to have started fires and caused smoke in homes this morning.

A CFA spokeswoman thos morning said crews had been called out to about 25 incidents after the suspected surge.

She said small fires had been detected in roofs and there had been reports of smoke coming from meter boxes.

CFA teams have been arranged from the local area and will be assisted by Patterson River and Dandenong to respond to calls.

The authority is calling for residents of Mornington and Mt Martha north of Craigie Rd and south of Bungower to return to their homes and check for damage.

A staging area has been set up at Mornington Fire Station.

A United Energy spokesman said the fault had been isolated to a zone substation and customers were never without power.

He said the substation connected 10,000 customers and as of 4pm the company had received about 1500 inquiries.