Squirrel deemed culprit in local power outages
By Kate Jacobson (Last updated: 08/10/09 7:08pm)Mother nature was responsible for a power outage that caused more than 400 East Lansing residents to lose power, but not in the way one might expect.
A squirrel chewing through fuses caused blackouts in the neighborhoods surrounding Trowbridge Road and Lilac Avenue near the south side of campus. Consumers Energy Spokesperson Terri DeDoes said outages occurred from 12:45-3:43 p.m. Monday.
“It appeared to be an issue in the substation,” he said.
DeDoes said a squirrel somehow got into the substation and chewed away at some wires causing the fuses to short circuit.
The outages caused residences, businesses and traffic lights to be out. The East Lansing Police Department helped direct traffic at busy intersections along Harrison and Trowbridge roads.
Cadet Ryan Boyer said there were no reported incidents of accidents caused by the outages.
“We’re just doing regular routines that we have an officer visible at the sites,” he said. “The outages have been taken care of pretty quickly.”
Although outages bordered the southern end of campus, MSU spokesman Kent Cassella said there were no reported incidents on campus.
DeDoes said 446 customers were showing power failures. One of those residents was Faith Kirk who lives on Sever Drive. Kirk said she noticed the power was out and checked the company’s Web site for updates.
“I thought it was related to the storm,” she said. “I thought maybe there was a tree down or something.”
Kirk said she wasn’t too concerned about the loss of power, but was worried that the later the traffic lights were off the higher risk it could be to drivers.
“It wasn’t too bad earlier,” Kirk said. “I’ll be concerned when it gets to be four or five and traffic starts to increase.”
Power has been restored for people living in that area.
ha
08/11/09 1:10ampoor sparkey. he will be missed.
E.L. Resident
08/11/09 8:32amOnce again the StateNews neglects to give us a detailed description of the criminal. So are we supposed to just go and look for any squirrel out there to apprehend? Black, brown, gray? Facial description? Height? Weight?
So P.C. it makes me sick
Ham
08/11/09 1:08pmMy question is “Where is PETA?”
Enjoyed it
08/11/09 2:12pmenjoyed the power outage with no signals operating on Harrison Rd. its fun driving when there’s no light to brake the car unnecessarily
sleuth
08/11/09 8:36pmThe squirrel is getting a bum rap just because he’s an easy target. Like he’s going to put up a fight. The racoon did it and skipped out of town.
Home Brew
08/12/09 8:34amI find a slice of Caciotta cheese and a glass of Chilean wine much more satisfying, mind you.
rocky
08/12/09 9:27amOk Sleuth, where’s your proof for your unfounded accusation of the racoon. Sure there’s the mask and nocturnal roamings but unless you saw this first hand how dare you sir be so callous and accuse me, I mean some innocent party of messing with the wires! It WAS the squirrel, I saw him chewing up there with is nasty sharp teeth while I rummaged through some guys garbage can. Honest, I wouldn’t lie about this. I demand a retraction!
sleuth
08/12/09 12:33pmWell, look who just HAPPENED to wander into this thread….Mr. Racoon! I just knew he wouldn’t be able to resist snooping around here, with his laughable protestations of innocence and feeble stories.
BUSTED!!!!
rocky
08/12/09 1:32pmYou’ll never take me alive I tells ya’, I ain’t afraid to die if that what it takes to stay outa the pen. I ain’t goin’ back in ya’ hear me? Come and get me sleuth if ya’ got the nerve!
common sense
08/12/09 1:54pmAnyone want to get a bat out of my house?
beau
08/12/09 3:14pmWhen it gets dark tonight turn off all your indoor lights, turn on a porch light or other outdoor light close by and open the door. Most bats will fly out the door and into the great beyond glad to be free. That is unless your house is its roost in which case it will be back after eating its share of nasty insects all night long. In that case you won’t need to waste money on bug spray.
08/12/09 10:58pmyour only picking on that poor ol squirrel because hes BLACK!!!
Crack me up!...
08/13/09 3:10pm…The above post! Hillarious!!
I Seriuosly Thought
08/13/09 3:12pmThat there was something squirrely about this story.
Ryan
08/15/09 12:54pmLooks like the squirrels have joined Al Qaeda. We’re finished, guys.
Black Squirrel
08/18/09 4:03pmIt wasn’t me I tell you. I’m calling operation Rainbow PUSH Stat!