JOHN DAY — Community members in the vicinity of Northeast First Street in John Day were startled on Monday, Feb. 12, by the sound of fuses blowing on a power pole, which led to a localized power outage.

The fuses blew around 2:20 p.m. with a sound like a large-caliber gunshot or small explosion. The power pole between Solutions CPAs and Mosier’s carpet warehouse was the scene of the incident, with two of the pole’s three fuses hanging down and swinging back and forth after the incident.

Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative spokesman Shane Stenquist said crews were dispatched to Northeast First Street in John Day to replace the damaged fuses. Stenquist said the crews were unsure what caused the fuses to blow, saying the incident may have been caused by a bird.

The outage affected approximately 50 customers in the John Day service area, according to Stenquist. Crews had replaced the blown fuses and restored power to affected customers by 3:30 p.m.