A wayward squirrel triggered a citywide blackout about noon Monday, causing damage to a $30,000 piece of equipment in the process.
Kent Tomson, Iola’s electric distribution superintendent explained how the blackout occurred.
The squirrel, making its way across the top of a circuit tie breaker at Iola’s Oak Street electric substation, came in contact with a pair of nearby bushings, Tomson said.
The contact created an electrical arc, sending thousands of volts of electricity through the unfortunate squirrel.
The intense heat from the electrical jolt caused the squirrel literally to burst into flames, Tomson said, causing extensive damage to the breaker.
The city’s electric system functioned exactly as it was designed to do. The arc prompted a tie breaker to one of two transformers to open at the substation.
The transformer shutdown triggered another breaker to trip at the city’s Bassett substation south of town — where Westar electric service feeds into the city — which is why the entire city was without power for about 20 minutes.
“The system did exactly what it was supposed to do,” Tomson said. “As soon as the Westar feed was shut down, it pretty much put out the fire at the substation by itself.”
By the time city crews arrived at the substation minutes later, the only remaining flames were coming from the squirrel.
Crews reset the transformer breakers at Oak Street to bypass one of the transformers and the damaged tie breaker.
CREWS FROM Iola’s power plant were on the scene Monday afternoon to further assess the damage.
City Administrator Carl Slaugh said he was hopeful the unit could be repaired.
The worst-case scenario involves replacing the entire tie breaker, costing upwards of $30,000, and likely taking about seven months to complete.
“These things aren’t just lying around,” Power Plant Superintendent Mike Phillips said. “They have to be built.”
