Happy Ending For Fox That Found Itself In A Peculiar Spot Atop A Vea Transformer

For Immediate Release
Valley Electric Association
800 E. Hwy 372
Pahrump, NV 89048

Pahrump, NV- A Valley Electric Association line crew doing routine electrical work last Thursday, Feb. 1, saw a fox scamper up a power pole and sit down atop a VEA transformer that was perched more than 30 feet in the air.

The VEA line crew was working at Dandelion and Mt. Charleston at approximately 11:40 a.m., when they saw the fox run up the power pole. Instantly, the linemen feared that if the fox touched or fell into the energized power lines, that it might cause a major power outage to those in central Pahrump Valley.

Seeing that the fox was sitting stationary for a time on the transformer, the crew quickly cut, or de-energized, power to the lines connected to that power pole so that lineman Ben Veloz could be raised up in the air in a bucket attached to a VEA truck to rescue the animal.

If it had fallen into any energized power lines, the fox would likely have caused a fault and the flow of electricity would no doubt have been interrupted, thereby resulting in an outage. This would have caused damage that would have been costly to repair, and would have posed a significant danger to those in the area.

Fortunately for VEA and its consumers, Veloz was able to scoop the fox up into his arms. The animal appeared to come down willingly with Veloz, and once he and his fellow linemen on the crew inspected it to see that it was not injured, they released the fox back into the wild.

This story ended happily. But animals that climb power poles, and birds that sit on power lines, have been a huge source of electrical problems for VEA, and all other utilities throughout the country for years. These creatures often come into contact with power lines and equipment in such a way that unexpected outages happen as a result.

Birds, if they remain on only one power line, usually won't get electrocuted. But if their wings, for example, should happen to come into contact with two of the three power lines that you see on VEA distribution lines, that creates what is called a phase-to-phase situation, and the bird, or animal, will get electrocuted instantly, and invariably cause an outage.
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