Fish ‘destroyed’ transformer, causing large power outage in New Jersey town, cops say
_fitted.png "A fish destroyed a transformer, causing a power outage for many residents in Sayreville, New Jersey, police say.")
Residents of Sayreville, New Jersey, were recently reminded of the power and absurdity of nature when a fish knocked out power to a section of town.
“There is a large area of Lower Sayreville without power,” the police department said in an Aug. 12 Facebook post, adding that workers with Jersey Central Power & Light found a fish on top of a transformer.
“The FISHdestroyed the transformer!” police said.
Is this a sign? Are the fish angry? How vulnerable is the nation’s grid to aquatic attackers?
The residents of Sayreville were too busy cracking jokes to ask such questions.
“I guess JCP&L found Nemo,” one person commented.
“So the fish is on the hook for the outage,” wrote another.
“Oh my cod!” a comment said. “Sorry, had to.”
Police quickly realized the fish couldn’t have fried the transformer on its own.
“We have a hypothesis. We are guessing a bird dropped it as it flew over,” the department said, sharing an image recreating what that might have looked like.
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“Let’s appreciate the graphic design team whipping this up so quickly,” one comment read. “This could very well be the next town logo and mascots.”
Power was restored within a few hours, but justice hadn’t yet been served.
While the fish initially took the brunt of the blame, police were quick to highlight that the true culprit was still at large.
“If you see him do not try to apprehend him. Although he isn’t believed to be armed he may still be very dangerous,” police said.
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“Please let us not forget the victim in this senseless death,” police said of the fish used to torpedo Sayreville’s power grid. “Gilligan was a hard working family man. He was a father to thousands of children.”
“If you have any information in this case please contact Det. John Silver who handles all of our fish cases,” police said.
Sayreville has a population of about 45,000 and is roughly 25 miles southwest of Newark.
This story was originally published August 14, 2023 at 11:35 AM with the headline "Fish ‘destroyed’ transformer, causing large power outage in New Jersey town, cops say."