Grid infrastructureUnited StatesEIR-0952

Squirrel intrusion sparks small fire and outage at Manhattan Kansas substation

Aug 2020Published 17 Sept 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor

MinorElectrical

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From the recordRoot cause Failed part

Where: substation near Walters Morgan Construction in Northview area of Manhattan, Kansas
Operator: Evergy
What: small fire after squirrel entered equipment
Injuries: None reported
Cause: squirrel entered substation equipment

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Companies named in the reporting of this entry (being named is not a finding of fault): Evergy

What happened

A small fire broke out at an Evergy substation near Walters Morgan Construction in the Northview area of Manhattan, Kansas, after a squirrel entered the equipment around 8:30 a.m. The fire caused a power outage affecting more than 7,200 residents, mainly north of Kimball Avenue, for about two hours. Evergy crews rerouted customers to other substations while repairs were carried out. The outage did not affect polling sites in Riley County, which have battery backup for voting machines and paper ballots as a further contingency. An Evergy official on site attributed the incident to the animal intrusion. No injuries were reported.

Contributing factors

A squirrel gained access to substation equipment, triggering an electrical fault and small fire.

Lessons learned

Squirrel entry to substation equipment can trigger an electrical fault and small fire, so operators should fit barriers or deterrents around live parts.
A substation fault can cause a two-hour outage for thousands of customers, so utilities should maintain reroute paths to adjacent substations.

More lessons on spacing, layout and fire spread, from every incident on the register.

Not yet known

Equipment model and age
Cost of repairs
Exact cause of the fault

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Source

1350kman.com

Other entries that name Manhattan

Transformer fire reported at a Con Edison facility in Chelsea, Manhattan EIR-1625 · 2026
Con Edison substation fire at West 64th Street triggers Manhattan blackout EIR-1055 · 2019

Published 2026-09-17. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.

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The record behind this entry

The record behind EIR-0952 holds the site, the operator, the owner, the root cause, what failed and the fire service response as fields you can filter, count and export, with its source and their verification status. The cause is not hidden: the contributing factors above give it as the sources report it. The record adds it as a field. Companies are named in the roles the sources give them. Being named is not a finding of fault.

Site: ••••••••••••
Operator: •••••••••
Owner: •••••••••
Failed part: •••••••
Fire service response: ••••••••••
Sources: ••••••••

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