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Bird blamed for power outage in Fredericton

An errant bird is being blamed for a power outage at a residential neighbourhood in Fredericton on Thursday.

NB Power's Meghan Gerrish says the bird slipped through protective measures at a substation and short circuited the system, leaving 3,700 customers without electricity.

"We have animal guards in place in sub-stations in an attempt to prevent small animals getting into the equipment. However, from time to time animals do squeak by these guards, these protective measures which are in place and cause a trip in our system."

Gerrish says squirrels are also to blame for the occasional outage by animals.

Power was restored to the Fredericton neighbourhood within a couple of hours.