Squirrel causes substation fire leaving thousands without power in Ohio

What happened

A squirrel entered a DP&L substation on East Dorothy Lane, west of Wilmington Pike in Kettering, Ohio, on Monday 4 November 2019. The animal tripped a switchgear, which caused a fire first reported at about 7:40 a.m. Firefighters reported the fire under control around 8:30 a.m. and allowed it to burn itself out. The fire took down power to around 10,000 customers. DP&L cut power to a further 10,000 or so customers, mainly in Kettering with some in Oakwood, to make the situation safe while the fire department resolved the fire.

Power was restored to customers by 11:15 a.m. Oakwood and Kettering schools kept classes running, and Orchard Park Elementary was the last school still without power after 10:30 a.m.

Contributing factors

A squirrel got into the substation and tripped a switchgear. DP&L said it had protection in place and planned for animals, but animals can still find ways into substations. The outage was widened by the decision to isolate a further 10,000 or so customers while the fire was dealt with.

Lessons learned

1. Operators should assess and seal the routes by which animals can enter substations, and fit mesh or guards to exposed equipment.
2. Protection and isolation schemes should be designed so that an animal-caused fault affects as few customers as possible.
3. Operators should coordinate with fire services on fire response and on the restoration sequence for schools and other critical customers.

More lessons on electrical protection and isolation, fire suppression and firefighting, from every incident on the register.

Source

daytondailynews.com