Pheasant causes power outage, fire in Dickinson

DICKINSON, N.D. (AP) — A pheasant is being blamed not only for a power outage in Dickinson but also a grass fire.

Montana-Dakota Utilities spokesman Mark Hanson tells The Dickinson Press (http://bit.ly/sFMQYZ ) that the bird tried to perch on a power line Tuesday morning, causing a chain of events that left about 7,700 customers in the dark, some for about an hour.

Hanson says when the electrocuted pheasant fell from the power line it caused a small grass fire. Fire Chief Curt Lefor (LEH'-fur) says it took firefighters only a few minutes to put out, but it was in deep grass so it caused a lot of smoke.

Lefor says a Canada goose got tangled in a power line in Dickinson last week and caused a similar fire.

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