Matthew Olearczyk, a program manager with the Electric Power Research Institute, explains that typically a squirrel will cause a blackout by scampering across electrical equipment and touching simultaneously both an energized component, like one of the cylindrical transformers at the top of a utility pole, and a grounded piece of equipment. The squirrel completes the circuit, generating an arc. There is an instantaneous flash of blue light. At its center is the squirrel, combusting. (In one news story, the squirrel was said to make a “popping sound” when it ignited.)

Dala:

Squirrels took out our phone line at my first apartment. Wild animals gotta do what wild animals gotta do. It amuses me that we think they should be able to tell what's safe to step on, like squirrel mothers teach squirrel babies the basics of electrical circuitry, so they don't go out and fry themselves on telephone poles.

posted 1768 days ago