Power Turned Off By Nosy Marmot

A marmot caused several hundred south Spokane homes and businesses to lose electricity Monday morning when it crawled into some equipment at a Washington Water Power Co. substation.

The outage occurred shortly after 10 a.m. when the curious critter got trapped in the WWP substation at 32nd and Havana, said spokeswoman Susan Nielsen.

“He got in between some equipment designed to protect the substation during lightning storms,” Nielsen said. “He got roasted.”

More than 300 customers lost power for at least 90 minutes, she said. The outage included homes south of Hartson to 33rd, west of Havana to Altamont and from 33rd south to 50th. A small area north of Glenrose and 21st also was affected.

Crews transferred power from the substation to several working ones on the South Hill for two hours while repairs were made.

, DataTimes