Squirrel in power equipment causes massive power outage in southern, eastern Wichita

WICHITA, Kan. – One small rodent is getting the blame for a massive power outage in southern and eastern sections of Wichita.

KAKE-TV reports (http://bit.ly/135zFpa ) nearly 10,000 customers of Westar Energy were affected by the outage Monday afternoon.

Authorities say a squirrel crawled into equipment at a substation, causing a transformer to blow out. A fire then broke out at the substation. Firefighters were quickly able to bring it under control.

Power was restored to the Westar customers in about one hour.

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Information from: KAKE-TV.

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