Squirrel causes 8-hour outage

OGDENSBURG — Just as many residents were preparing to enjoy the New York Yankees playoff game, a squirrel caused a transformer at the Park Street substation to short out, knocking out power in parts of the city.

Officials said electricity was out from 5:15 p.m. Saturday until 3:30 a.m. Sunday.

The squirrel, which did not survive, caused outages in parts of the city from Ford and Lafayette streets to State and Park streets. A number of traffic lights were out, causing off-duty police officers and Department of Public Works employees to be called in to help with traffic.

According to witnesses who were working at the Park Street Agway store, directly across from the substation, blue sparks shot from the transformer and power flickered at the store.

"There was lots of smoke and the power flickered a few times," said Joseph R. Metz, an Agway employee. "There was a lot of sparks pouring out of that sucker."

Steven M. Conger, another Agway employee, said he wasn't surprised to hear a squirrel caused the outage because he recalled a similar incident in Heuvelton earlier this year.

Ogdensburg Fire Department Assistant Chief Donald J. McCarthy remained at the scene until National Grid employees were able to repair the problem.

Mr. McCarthy said there was no threat to passing motorists, but he remained at the scene to let people know what happened and to ensure that if further arcs occurred they could be dealt with.

A firefighter said one power generator was lent to a family for medical reasons.

National Grid repair trucks could be seen combing the city throughout the night, as workers struggled to bring power back to city homes.

Several businesses lost power, including Pizza Hut, McDonald's and The Journal and Advance News.

The Seaway Shopping Center, Walgreens and Kinney's did not lose power.

Several Ford Street bars remained open using generators, allowing many of the city residents to watch playoff baseball, NASCAR and hockey.