One squirrel caused 4,100 homes to lose power for three hoursand a car accident on Wednesday morning.
Mike Brian, state corporate communication manager for AmericanElectric Power, said a squirrel managed to get to equipment inAEP's Tillotson Avenue station at 7:10 a.m. The equipmentelectrocuted the squirrel, which caused the building to lockdown tokeep the equipment from overheating, Brian said.
"It's like when a tree falls on a power line," he said.
AEP uses safety cautions such as wires to keep animals fromgetting into the station to keep incidents like this fromhappening. The squirrel managed to get by the precautions,though.
"Those squirrels are wily creatures," Brian said. "You've gotanimals that can get into the craziest places."
The lockdown shut off power to homes, including those of BallState students, bounded by White River Boulevard, Tillotson Avenue,Morrison Road and Grace Lane on the north. Street lights in thearea, including at intersections on McGalliard Road, TillotsonAvenue and Bethel Avenue, lost power.
"Traffic was a nightmare," Joe Winkle, Muncie Police Departmentchief, said.
Muncie did not have enough officers to send out to all theintersections in the areas, Winkle said, and one accident tookplace at Jackson Street and Tillotson Avenue.
Despite the lack of officers, Winkle said most commuters handledthe situation well.
Indiana law says when a stop light does not work, drivers shouldtreat it as a four-way stop, Winkle said.
Traffic returned to normal once engineers got the stationrunning by 10 a.m.
The squirrel was not so lucky, though, and died fromelectrocution.
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