A squirrel that got caught in the wires at a Riverdale substation turned out the lights for more than 12,000 customers at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday.

James Grattan of Yukon Electrical Co. Ltd. said this morning parts of Riverdale and Porter Creek were back on in 14 minutes, while the Logan and Arkell subdivisions were the last to come back on line at 10:48 p.m.

'The animal got caught in the wires feeding the breakers and caused the fault,' said Grattan, the manager of customer services.

The blackout stretched from Teslin to Ross River, knocking out the entire Whitehorse-Aishihik-Faro grid with the exception of Haines Junction and a portion of Alaska Highway customers fed by an independent line running off the Aishihik dam.

Grattan said automated backup diesel plants restored power to Teslin, Carmacks and Ross River within three minutes.

Yukon Electrical crews were replacing the breaker today, he added.