Nuts but squirrel blamed for power cut to almost 8k homes

Slightly nuts, but a tiny squirrel has been blamed for causing a power cut resulting in the loss of electricity to almost 8,000 homes in Co Armagh.
By The Newsroom
Published 27th Jun 2018, 16:26 BST
Updated 16th Jul 2018, 16:58 BST

However NI Electricity were quick to respond after the little forager tried to get into a transformer.

Local resident and councillor Gareth Wilson saw the funny side and suggested that squirrels should really find new ‘ohms’ rather than NIE equipment.

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Alderman Gareth Wilson stated, “When I inquired about the sudden power failure NIE were very quick off the mark and had power restored within a couple of hours which we are grateful for however it was still a major inconvenience for lots of business and homes across the district.”

He added: “NIE confirmed that a squirrel had caused the short within some transformer equipment which then caused the massive outage.

“It is quite ‘nuts’ to think that a squirrel has caused such disruption and I would imagine that they really should find new ‘ohms’ other than NIE equipment!”

A spokesperson for NIE Networks said: “Around 7,600 customers were left without electricity in the Richhill and Benburb areas on Tuesday (26 June) at 11.38 due to wildlife interfering with a key piece of electrical equipment.

“NIE Networks emergency crews responded immediately to make the area safe and were able to restore electricity to customers by 12.39,” said an NIE spokesperson.