MARLBOROUGH, MA – Approximately 100 Marlborough households were without power shortly before noon today after a squirrel grounded an electrical wire on Church Street, a National Grid spokeswoman said.
Approximately 3,500 National Grid customers lost power at 9 a.m. this morning, though most customers had their power restored by 9:40 a.m., and by 11:15 a.m. only 100 customers were still in the dark, said spokeswoman Amy Atwood.
Atwood said the squirrel climbed onto the electrical pole and, while still partly on the pole, touched the electrical wire, thus sending an electrical current through the squirrels’ body, onto the pole and down to the ground. The squirrel was found dead on the street.
“The electricity’s always trying to get back to the earth, and if you make the path work it will follow it,” said Marlborough Fire Capt. John McGrath.
That is why people and animals should never touch electrical wires, Atwood said.
“We have animal guard on the majority of our lines and we do everything we can to prevent it but (animals) still find ways,” she said.
The electrical wire caught on fire and broke, falling onto the lawn of a private homeowner on the corner of Church and Sawin streets, McGrath said.
