MARSHALL – A power outage that affected many areas of Marshall on Thursday morning was caused by an unlucky rodent, Marshall Municipal Utilities electrical manager Steve Johnson said.

A squirrel made contact with a high voltage bus at MMU’s electrical substation on Saratoga Street, Johnson said. The resulting power outage “took out a fairly large area in the downtown area, and out to Country Club Drive,” Johnson said. Power was restored after MMU staff removed the squirrel from the substation.

The outage last about 13 minutes for most customers, said MMU general manager Brad Roos.

– Deb Gau