Howdy, folks, and a fine day to you from the heart of East Tennessee! Howe Weird here, ready to spin you another yarn that, well, you just can’t make up. Today’s tale takes us to a place many of you know and love, a place usually buzzing with excitement and the sweet smell of pancakes: Pigeon Forge.
Now, Pigeon Forge is famous for its shows, its attractions, and its general good times. But back in 2023, it got a different kind of fame, one that left thousands in the dark and scratching their heads. We’re talking about a power outage, and not just any old outage caused by a squirrel chewing a wire or a tree falling on a line. Oh no, this was a masterpiece of natural engineering, a true testament to the unexpected.
Imagine the scene: lights flicker, then die. The hum of the city goes silent. Folks are wondering if it’s a storm, a transformer, maybe even a rogue bear messing with the grid. Hours tick by, and the utility crews are out there, scratching their heads just like everyone else. They’re checking lines, substations, looking for the usual suspects. But what they found was anything but usual.
The culprit, my friends, was none other than the humble pigeon. Or, more accurately, the not-so-humble accumulation of pigeon droppings. Yes, you heard that right. A critical electrical substation, a vital hub for keeping the lights on, had become a rather popular roosting spot for our feathered friends. Over time, their… contributions… piled up. And as it turns out, pigeon droppings, when accumulated in just the right (or wrong) way, are surprisingly conductive.
One day, that conductive pile decided it had had enough, creating a short circuit that plunged a significant chunk of Pigeon Forge into darkness. Utility workers, bless their hearts for having to deal with such things, described the scene as ‘unprecedented.’ I reckon they’d seen a lot in their time, but I bet ‘pigeon poop power outage’ wasn’t on their bingo card. You couldn’t just pop down to ‘RADIO SHACK’ back in the day and pick up a ‘pigeon-poop-detector’ or a ‘substation-defecation-deterrent,’ could you? Some problems, you just gotta discover the hard way.
It took hours for the crews to not only figure out the bizarre cause but then to meticulously clean the substation and restore power. It’s a stark reminder that sometimes the biggest disruptions come from the smallest, and most unexpected, sources. Who knew that a flock of pigeons could bring a modern city to its knees? It certainly gives you a new perspective on those cooing birds in the park, doesn’t it? Just another day in East Tennessee, where the stories are always stranger than fiction.
Check out Pigeon Forge power outage on Amazon (paid link)
Original source: cantmakethisup.net
Original source: https://cantmakethisup.net/pigeon-poop-power-outage