Squirrel causes brief power outage downtown

An unfortunate squirrel that got into equipment on a power pole caused a 20-minute power outage in downtown McMinnville about 1 p.m. on Thursday.

Water & Light Electric Division Director Scott Rosenbalm said that the power was out from the north side of Third Street nearly to the high school – a total of a bit more than 500 customers.

“It's unusual for a squirrel to cause a feeder outage but it does happen,” Rosenbalm said.

“The nice thing about these types of things happening is that the day crews were close by and could respond quickly,” he said.

No major repairs were needed, Rosenbalm said. However, the crew had first to figure out where the problem was, and then do the equivalent of switching an extra-large circuit breaker back on.