Bear Causes Massive Power Outage in Butte County
On Monday morning, a pesky bear took to a 60,000-volt electric pole in Butte County for a little bit of a climb. The result? The pole fell causing a power outage for 4,500 nearby residents.
PG&E are blaming the bear for the massive power outage in the upper Butte Creek Canyon around 12:40 am, leaving officials to rush to restore power to the area. Paul Moreno, a spokesman for PG&E, took to Twitter to explain the incident.
.@PGE4Me crews restoring power to customers in Magalia, Forest Ranch who lost power after bear apparently climbed a wooden pole and contacted high-voltage equipment at about 12:40 a.m. today. About 2,900 customers to be restored about 10 a.m.
— Paul Moreno (@PGE_Paul) September 24, 2018
To make matters worse, a nearby fire that started around the same time as the power outage made restoring the power in the area difficult. The Nimshew Fire has burned 33 acres and is currently 50 percent contained. Officials were not able to determine if the bear and the fire were connected.
There were brief evacuation orders for the fire in the area, but were quickly lifter once containment improved and power was restored to the area.
