There were 2 substation outages overnight. Here's what caused them
Power is mostly restored as Duke Energy sorts out two substation outages overnight that left thousands without power.
A fire caused by an animal at an Anderson Township substation Tuesday night took out power for thousands of East Side residents left the culprit too badly burned to identify what kind of animal it was.
That’s according to Duke Energy spokeswoman Sally Thelen, who said the animal apparently climbed onto a transformer, setting off a fire about 7:30 p.m. at the substation near Markley and Dunn roads.
More than 2,300 customers - mostly in Anderson Township - were without power at the height of the outage, according to Duke Energy's outage map.
Thelen said it is not unusual for animals such as squirrels, cats and rats to breach the myriad of safeguards designed to keep them out of substations and off power lines.
“Sometimes things just get through," she said. "Even with the best of protection."
Anderson Township firefighters put out the fire Tuesday night and power was restored to all affected customers this morning.
Second outage
Duke Energy is investigating an unrelated outage this morning that left nearly 120 customers without power in Butler County's Overpeck area.
Thelen said a train-car collision took down some of the company's power lines.
Power was mostly restored in the area by 9 a.m.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Power substation outages overnight left thousands without power
