Power outage - Squirrels bite into Sunday's commerce

Lunch and afternoon shopping was halted in La Conner on Sunday when a squirrel chewed through an electrical line and knocked out the town’s power.

Akiko Oda with Puget Sound Energy said the four-hour outage was caused by a small animal inside the undrground equipment.

The outage started at noon, and continued until Puget Sound Energy workers could replace an underground high voltage electrical vault just before 4 p.m..

The damaged power box, which is located near the La Conner Regional Library, was completely scorched, said Frank Scott, La Conner’s Code Enforcement Officer.

The outage’s poor timing meant that many businesses had to forego serving customers during peak Sunday lunch and tourism hours.

Sherry Thostenson, an owner of the La Conner Pub & Eatery, said the restaurant turned away at least 50 people in the four hours the power was down.

Restaurants are legally required to close during power outages, Thostenson said.

While some merchant’s were affected less than others, most vendors were forced to adjust for the lack of electricity.

Some businesses, such as Pioneer Market, began accepting only cash.

Scott said many restaurants gave up lunchtime business and began preparing for dinner instead.

Power was back on in time for restaurants to serve dinner.

Some merchants expressed frustration at the amount of time it took Puget Sound Energy to respond to the call.

“I don’t understand why it took PSE two hours to get here” said Thostenson.

Scott, who spent the afternoon keeping businesses updated on the status of the power outage, noted the PSE website did not have an accurate time for the fix.

While businesses in La Conner were only inconvenienced for the day, the squirrel family in the power box was not so lucky.

“When you get fried by 12,000 volts, it isn’t a pretty sight” said Scott. The furry culprit was deceased at the scene.