Electrocuted, flaming bird carcasses are falling off of power lines and causing wildfires across the U.S. This surprisingly common phenomenon has been responsible for at least three Colorado wildfires so far this summer.
These events are not isolated. A 2022 study found that electrocuted birds caused 44 wildfires in the contiguous United States between 2014 and 2018. That study was led by Taylor Barnes, a biologist who now works for electric utility company EDM International. In the paper, Barnes wrote that “avian-caused ignitions” happen when a bird sits on an overhead power line. For reasons that can vary from case to case, sometimes the bird receives a powerful electrical shock, setting its feathers on fire. The dead or dying bird then falls, and, on occasion, lands in some brush or other flammable material.
“Sometimes they burst into flames,” Barnes told 9News, an NBC affiliate in Colorado. “Sometimes they just fall dead. Not every bird that is electrocuted will fall to the ground and start a fire.”
Odds are, you’ve seen birds perched on electrical wires countless times without witnessing spontaneous sparrow combustion. Barnes said birds just going for a sit pose no threat. Because the birds are not touching the ground, the electricity in the power line has no way to the ground and is not dangerous to them. It’s only when the birds get into a part of the power infrastructure where a circuit can be completed that they end up crispy.
On July 13, a fire in Colorado’s Arapahoe County that destroyed a home and a dozen outbuildings appeared to be caused by one such flaming avian. The Denver Post reported that more than 1,100 acres were burned in the blaze. Barnes said one possible reason the bird burst into flames was that it was looking for a snack inside an arrester cap.
“Sometimes what can happen is insects can get inside that cap,” he told 9News. “That attracts birds. Birds like to eat insects, in particular woodpeckers and crows, so something like that could have sat on the jumper wire and pecked into that arrester cap trying to get to the insects, making contact with the energized components and then causing it to catch fire.”
It’s not clear what happened to the birds involved in Colorado’s other two recent fires, which occurred on July 31 and August 27. No people were injured or killed in the incidents.
According to Barnes’ 2022 study, the area of California coast known as the state’s Mediterranean ecoregion has the highest density of wildfires set off by avian ignitions. In the paper, he advised authorities in the area and other fire-prone regions to look into modifying power poles to prevent these electrocutions. Given the devastating effects fires can have and how common they’ve become, it’s surely worth the investment to keep our feathered friends in flight and not on fire.
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