Birds cited in second outage, fire in three days

Jun 23, 2023

Firefighters and NVEnergy troubleshooters at the scene of another small fire and large power outage on Friday afternoon. Photo by Kurt Hildebrand.

By Kurt Hildebrand

Friday, July 28, 2023

For the second time in three days, birds are the likely culprit in a power outage and small brush fire near the Muller Lane power substation.

Electricity went out to 1,536 customers at 12:42 p.m. Friday, mostly affecting Minden and Genoa, according to NVEnergy.com

The cause was listed a problem with hardware, cable or other equipment, though a spokeswoman for NV Energy said that it appeared to be another bird-related incident.

The spot fire in the grass near the same spot was quickly doused by a single East Fork Fire engine.

Power was restored within 45 minutes, a bit faster than occurred on Tuesday when power went out at 1:48 p.m. and was restored at around 3 p.m.

Birds can cause outages distribution networks but mainly by either colliding with wires or touching either two phases or a phase and ground.

Should that happen, it could result in igniting the bird and setting brush near a pole on fire.

Squirrels and other climbing animals sometimes cause fires, as well.

In August 2005, a cat staking out a bird’s nest in Topaz Ranch Estates hit the power line and caught fire. He survived for a few days but eventually succumbed to the injuries.

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