JOHN DAY — Community members in the vicinity of Northeast First Street in John Day were startled by the sound of a pair of fuses blowing on a power post, which led to a localized power outage.
The breakers blew sometime around 2:20 p.m. and sounded like a large caliber gunshot or small explosion. The power post between Solutions CPAs and Mosiers Carpet Warehouse was the scene of the incident, with two of the three fuses normally attached to breakers on the power post dangling in the wind.
Oregon Trail Electric Company spokesman Shane Stenquist said crews had already been dispatched to Northeast First Street in John Day to replace the blown breaker fuses. Stenquist said the crews were unsure of the case of the blown breaker fuses, saying the incident may have been caused by a bird.
The outage affected approximately 50 customers in the John Day service area according to Stenquist. Crews had replaced the blown fuses and restored power to affected customers by 3:30 p.m.