Snake Starts Fire, Causes Power Outage in East Tennessee

June 3, 2008

A snake, crawling through a power distribution substation in East Tennessee, caused a fire that knocked out power to about 2,500 households in McMinn County.

Volunteer Energy Cooperative spokesman Robert McCarty said the reptile caused a short circuit which caused an arc and a lot of sparks — and electrocuted the snake.

The substation failed on May 30 and a crew worked about five hours to restore electricity by rerouting service through a Charleston substation.

McCarty said it might take two weeks to repair the damage caused by the fire.
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Information from: Chattanooga Times Free Press,
http://www.timesfreepress.com

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