Squirrel Causes Power Outage in West Melrose on Tuesday Morning

Did you roll over this morning, see a blinking "12:00" on your bedside clock and wonder, "Why didn't my alarm go off?" You're not alone.

Approximately 4,000 Melrosians didn't have electricity in their homes early Tuesday morning after a squirrel caused an almost-hour long power outage.

Several Melrose residents from the Cedar Park and Highlands areas reported the outage this morning. Deborah Drew, National Grid spokeswoman, said that a squirrel made contact with one of the switches (called a load break switch) on the line, breaking the circuit, thereby causing the outage.

Drew said the power outage lasted from 5:55 a.m. until approximately 6:37 a.m.

Some residents also reported other recent, brief power outages in the early morning hours. According to National Grid, a squirrel also caused momentary outages on Wednesday, July 6 at 5:49 a.m. and on June 5 at 6:34 a.m.