A squirrel was the cause of a power outage that affected around 2,500 customers in Edmonds Tuesday night, Snohomish County PUD said.
A squirrel got into PUD equipment located in a small switching station in Edmonds around 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 20, “and caused a fire on one of our reclosers,” PUD spokesperson Aaron Swaney said. “This knocked out power to approximately 2,500 customers on a pair of circuits in the Edmonds area.”
The utility was able to isolate the damaged equipment and restore power to all customers by 8:15 p.m. The damaged equipment will be assessed and replaced, Swaney said.
And the squirrel?
Did not survive.
Maybe now we can outlaw feeding wildlife in Edmonds. Our neighbor has been feeding the wildlife for years, causing thousands of dollars of damage to our houses and cars by artificially increasing the rodent population.
Did the squirrel survive?
Squirrels caught in PUD equipment in this manner do not survive.