ST. GEORGE – Numerous homes and businesses on the border of St. George and Santa Clara lost power early Wednesday morning at the hands of a wily fox.
Just after 2:30 a.m., the fox crawled into Substation 138 and tripped a breaker that shut down six other substations. City of St. George Energy Services Department customers in west St. George and extreme east Santa Clara lost power.
The outage lasted approximately 1 hour 45 minutes before city workers discovered the problem. The exact number of customers affected has not been determined, though Energy Services representatives confirmed the outage was concentrated in Dixie Downs.
There is no word on the whereabouts of the suspect fox.
Public service reminder: It is important to always call 811, which reaches an underground utility locating service that is local to you, prior to starting a project that involves digging. Whether you are a contractor using heavy equipment or a homeowner putting in a new fence, Blue Stakes of Utah or the applicable locator company will mark underground utility lines for free in order to prevent accidents and ensure people stay safe.
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I am guessing that if they were able to determine (after an hour and 45 minutes) that it was a fox that caused the problem……… That the fox was found on the premises of substation 138… probably in barely recognizable condition.
The power outage was more widespread than reported. I’m just south of the old airport and power was out all over this area as well. I missed my ceiling fan!
The fox was probably trying to steal copper out of the substation for meth. I saw a suspicious fox over by Furniture Row last week…
We live in.green valley and our power went out as well 🙂 definately a bigger area affected than.reported