Well, that's shocking, isn't it? I promise this story won't just be electricity puns. I'll also be writing some bird puns as well and killing two birds with one stone. This fowl, the titular bird in question, didn't die from a stone. No, it must have been a very bad birdie because it got the animal electric chair. Winning the animal kingdom version of the Darwin Awards, a hapless bird accidentally hit power lines and electrocuted itself.
The jolt from the electricity caused the bird to burst into flames. That is really fowl. Okay, I'll see myself out. The bird caused a brush fire behind a restaurant in Colorado. Cue hapless owners who weren't quite sure why the property behind their restaurant burst into flames.
This wasn't a small fire either. It spanned three acres. The incident happened near the The Fort restaurant in Morrison, a town about 20 miles from Denver. Authorities believe the bird burst into flames after hitting the power lines, according to West Metro Fire Rescue.
Bird Starts Fire
"When it fell to the ground - it ignited the brush on the ground," the agency said. Fortunately, the fire didn't destroy the restaurant. The blaze burned the grass and oak brush in a nearby field. Firefighters quickly managed to contain the fire before it got out of control. It appears that it's not a solo incident. Firefighters say this kind of things happens from time to time.
The fire department said, "Well, it happens. Not all the time, but, it happens." In fact, birds can cause wildfires. According to The Wildlife Society Bulletin, in a 2022 research paper, electrocuted fowl caused at least one of 44 wildfires over a 14 year period. According to the researcher, birds end up touching two tires at once on a power line.
So that's what causes the electrocution. If they're just touching one power line then generally they're fine. So let's pour one out for our poor hapless bird. Nameless in life but at least in death, the fowl became a shining star. Or at least it became as bright as one.
