Power outage caused by squirrel cancels classes at UConn

MANSFIELD, Conn., Oct. 25 (UPI) -- The University of Connecticut cancelled classes and sent home staff after a squirrel caused a power outage in the area.

UConn spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz told the Hartford Courant the outage caused by a squirrel crawling into a transformer impacted more than 50 buildings throughout the campus.

"A squirrel had somehow gotten itself in there on top of the pole and had gotten into the transformer and when this squirrel met its demise the spark from this led down the wire over to the circuit and caused the circuit and the transformer both to blow out," she told NBC Connecticut.

The power was out between 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. both on campus and a nearby intersection.

The University of Connecticut's police and fire departments were not affected by the outage, according to Reitz.