Squirrel Raccoon Responsible for North Adams, Rte. 2 Outage

Staff ReportsiBerkshires
12:03PM / Sunday, April 03, 2011Print Story | Email Story

Update: The North Adams Transcript reported on Friday, April, 8, 2011, that last weekend's power outage was caused by a raccoon. We'd heard that, too, and specifically asked the spokesman about it but were given the answer of squirrel. According to a different National Grid spokesman, the Transcript was told the raccoon "was able to get around the barriers and into the higher voltage area."

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A squirrel is responsible for the power outage on Saturday night that left some 1,400 customers in North Adams in the dark for nearly two hours, including Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

National Grid spokesman David Graves said a squirrel got into a substation on Walker Street and damaged a piece of equipment. Some 28 customers in Clarksburg near the substation and another 410 along Route 2 in Florida were also affected. Power was restored at 11:27 p.m.

"All substations are equipped with anti-animal protections but squirrels can get into just about anywhere they want to go to get to a food source," said Graves.

The nosy critters are frequent disruptors of power service and have an uncanny ability to get into places they don't belong. A Google search on "squirrels power outages" returned 241,000 results in 0.14 seconds. A 2007 USA Today article (cutely named "Suicide squirrels driving utilities nuts") says the acrobatic rodents cost utitilies millions every year in equipment and manpower.

Three weeks ago, an errant crow apparently caused an arc at a substation in Greylock that cut off power to 7,000 customers in the city's West End and along Route 7 south on Saturday morning.

North Adams East End, Route 2 In The Dark
10:16PM / Saturday, April 02, 2011

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Nearly 2,000 National Grid customers are out of power in sections of the city and as far east as Drury along Route 2.

Power went out about 9:45 p.m. on Saturday; several customers on the east side of the city reported hearing a loud bang before the lights went out. National Grid's website says power is not expected to be back on until midnight. No further information was immediately available; if our readers have any information they are welcome to post here or at Facebook.com/iBerkshires.

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Your Comments

iBerkshires.com welcomes critical, respectful dialogue. Name-calling, personal attacks, libel, slander or foul language is not allowed. All comments are reviewed before posting and will be deleted or edited as necessary.

More and more, iberkshires is the place to go for the best current local news coverage. Reminds me of WNAW back in the day when the late Don Thurston still owned it and Ron Plock was the chief news hound. Good job!
from: good coverage	on: 04-03-2011 05:08AM I Agree (21) - I Disagree (0)

How is this good covereage? It says nothing. I was happy to see something was said about the outage, but this says nothing. Waste of my time even looking.
from: really?	on: 04-03-2011 10:59AM I Agree (3) - I Disagree (19)
Editor: The point was to let people known what was happening on Saturday night and when it would be fixed. I've just updated with cause. Readers have to keep in mind that we have a tiny staff and we're often working during our time off on these types of stories.
I Agree (0) - I Disagree (0)

Who is this really person??? I didn't even know about a power outage until I saw it on iBerkshires. It is called knowledge, no matter how much you get...it's knowledge
from: YOU TRY TO DO BETTER	on: 04-03-2011 11:27AM I Agree (17) - I Disagree (1)

I just would like to thank the staff a iBerkshires.com, you all do a wonderful job, and when I want to see what is going on I go to you first. The Transcript and The Eagle usually are a few days behind you... again thanks for a great job. It was great to get on the computer last night after the power was back and find out something that was going on. again thanks for a job well done
from: native	on: 04-03-2011 01:18PM I Agree (22) - I Disagree (0)

Iberkshires was very quick to report the outage. Kudos to you. Officers were quickly dispatched by their Sergeant to concentrate patrol in effected areas to deter criminal activity an render any assistance to NA residents. I did the same for Clarksburg. You keep up the good job Iberkshires.
from: Art Barbeau	on: 04-03-2011 01:26PM I Agree (18) - I Disagree (2)
Editor: Thanks for the information Art. That's the kind of news our readers like to know.
I Agree (0) - I Disagree (0)

I was looking around to try and find out what had caused the outage. A general search online did not come up with any answers. I checked the transcript online, of course, no answers. I was just about to log off and then I remembered your coverage of the business fire on rt 8 a little while ago. I looked and there it was. The information that I wanted was only available on iberkshires.com thankyou all (reporters, investigators and staff)
from: John	on: 04-03-2011 02:15PM I Agree (12) - I Disagree (0)

I'm a really also. I appreciate iberkshires, and call them first with anything I feel is newsworthy.
from: really	on: 04-03-2011 06:10PM I Agree (9) - I Disagree (2)

Great Job covering story.. You always have to have one jerk in the bunch..
from: Opinions differ	on: 04-04-2011 10:08AM I Agree (9) - I Disagree (1)

This is right up iberkshires alley. A story like this is about all their small minded staff can handle! They can't get obituries right, even when directly copying them from the Transcript. So why would they have any better news stories than a squirle?! I'll stick to real newspeople for my information.
from: Zander's Mom	on: 04-04-2011 04:00PM I Agree (0) - I Disagree (10)

I live along route 2 and my power was out. It wasn't until I just read this article that I found out why. I have looked in the papers but didn't see anything. Thanks for posting. Regardless of the size of the story or information, you guys do a great job. I like to know about the little things that happen in our area not just the big things!
from: Murray Ave Resident	on: 04-07-2011 04:23PM I Agree (1) - I Disagree (0)

FYI it was a raccoon, not a squirrel.
from: seems like..	on: 04-08-2011 06:30PM I Agree (0) - I Disagree (0)
Editor: I specifically asked the National Grid spokesman if it was a raccoon and he said no. Who said it was a raccoon?
I Agree (0) - I Disagree (0)

National Grid. Transcript did a second article at the end of this week. National Grid corrected themselves.
from: seems like...	on: 04-09-2011 09:44AM I Agree (0) - I Disagree (0)
Editor: I see it. For heaven's sake, you think they would let us know since we called them first. I'll update the story. Thanks for pointing that out.
I Agree (0) - I Disagree (0)

Friday Front Porch Feature: A North Adams Turnkey Home

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
05:13PM / Friday, April 17, 2026

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Are you looking for a three-story home that's newly renovated? Then this is the home for you.

Our Friday Front Porch is a weekly feature spotlighting attractive homes for sale in Berkshire County. This week, we are showcasing 74 Washington Ave.

This home was originally built in 1880 and has four bedrooms and three bathrooms. It is 2,320 square feet on less than an acre.

The first floor includes the kitchen, a full bathroom, an office, a large open living room and dining area, and an entry with a staircase to the second floor, which has three bedrooms, a second full bathroom, and a laundry closet. The third floor was turned into a spacious primary suite with a full bathroom.

The house comes with major kitchen and laundry appliances.

It's on the market for $349,900.

We spoke to Allison Pacelli with Pacelli Zepka Corp., which has the listing.

What do you think makes this property stand out in the current market?

A house at this price point with so much space for several people is not easy to find. There are four bedrooms, three full bathrooms, large living room, kitchen, and a bonus room off the kitchen that could be an office or dining room or possibly even an extra guest room.

What was your first impression when you walked into this home?

I love some of the character of the house. For example, the banister and railing on the stairs is ornate and beautiful.

How would you describe the feel or atmosphere of this home?

The house is light and bright. It's a great mix of some class features like the stairway and updates like the kitchen and bathrooms.

What kind of buyer do you see this home being perfect for?

I can see all sorts of people in this house.

What would you say to a buyer trying to imagine their life in this space?

North Adams is such a vibrant and welcoming community. You can walk to MCLA or downtown. Williams College and Mass MoCA are close. The hospital is nearby, and the house would be great for doctors or nurses. There are a lot of opportunities in the area.

Are there any standout design features or recent renovations?

The entire house was renovated about two years ago. The owners removed all knob & tube wiring, installed a new boiler, added a new laundry setup on the second floor, and redid the third floor into a great primary suite, with private bathroom. The kitchen and all three bathrooms are also new.

You can find out more about this home on its listing here.

*Front Porch Feature brings you an exclusive to some of the houses listed on our real estate page every week. Here we take a bit of a deeper dive into a certain house for sale and ask questions so you don't have to.

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