July 19 (UPI) — A snake caused a power outage for thousands of people in Colorado after slithering into an electrical substation.
Xcel Energy confirmed to KUSA that the mischievous snake was the reason 6,500 customers were left without power in Platteville, Johnstown, Milliken and Loveland after it climbed 12 feet into some equipment at a substation in Johnstown.
The snake also caused a small fire at the substation after wriggling around the equipment in the fenced-off area.
Front Range Fire Rescue responded to reports of the fire at about 9:39 p.m. Monday, when Chief Ron Bateman said, his crews managed to easily extinguish the flames, although the snake did not survive.
“The snake didn’t fare so well,” he told the Greeley Tribune.
Bateman added authorities were unsure exactly how the snake managed to scale the equipment and how it caused the fire.
“Mysteries remain,” he said.
