(Update: Power restored shortly after 2 p.m.)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Power went out in downtown Bend during Friday’s lunch hour and into the early afternoon, affecting more than 5,500 Pacific Power customers. An outage was caused by a known culprit: a wayward squirrel at the utility’s riverside substation.

The outage also knocked out traffic lights in the area and forced the closure of the Deschutes County Courthouse, while nearby county offices were affected. According to Pacific Power’s outage map, power went out to 5,576 customers around 12:37 p.m. Although an initial restoration estimate of “before 4 p.m.” was listed, power was restored shortly after 2 p.m., a company spokesperson said.

Utility crews went to the downtown substation and discovered a squirrel had caused the outage, said Pacific Power Senior Communications Specialist Simon Gutierrez.

It’s not the first time, as many know, as squirrels have caused power outages in downtown and other locations before, including one year ago that knocked out power to more than 18,000 Bend customers.

“It’s a pretty common cause of failure,” Gutierrez said. “Squirrels and birds are two of our least welcome creatures.”

Asked if anything could be done to prevent or reduce the threat of such animal-related disruptions, Gutierrez said: “We do have some material for cages and nets,” and “we will certainly look” to see if the situation in downtown Bend justifies this. such additions.

We’ll have a report tonight on NewsChannel 21.