By Laura McVicker and John Branton
The Columbian
VANCOUVER, Wash. — In an odd incident that officials with Clark Public Utilities couldn’t fully explain, electrical outlets in five homes in Fisher’s Landing began sparking Monday afternoon.
At 2:40 p.m., the Vancouver Fire Department was called to 17313 S.E. Third St., said Capt. Kevin Murray.
A woman inside had smelled burning insulation, grabbed her dog and exited her home. Firefighters then learned that outlets had sparked in four other homes.
No one was reported injured, and no flames were seen. Firefighters used a thermal imaging camera to look for hot spots inside the walls. None were detected.
“We checked every room of every house,” Murray said.
“All we know is something happened in a transformer that served five houses, and it caused stray voltage to flow into the homes,” said Mick Shutt, spokesman for the utility. “The supervisor I talked to said he’d never seen anything like it.”
That technical supervisor has worked for the utility more than 30 years, said Shutt, who has worked there 30 years himself and also hadn’t heard of such a problem.
Crews replaced the transformer and took it to their shop to try to figure out what went wrong, Shutt said.
Electrical surges have been known to start fires in homes, Murray said. He said he wondered whether the homes’ wiring or appliances were damaged. That was unknown Monday night.
Copyright 2009 The Columbian Publishing Co.
All Rights Reserved