One little lizard caused some big problems for a Florida nursing home over the weekend.
The troubles started Friday, with an iguana wandering onto a power line. It was electrocuted, starting a fire on the connected pole and knocking out electricity at the Palms Care Center in Lauderdale Lakes, FL, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports.
That forced the 120-bed skilled nursing provider to switch to its backup generator, but only half of the facility was being cooled, firefighters soon realized. Rescue officials then moved all of the residents to parts of the building still receiving air conditioning. But due to overcrowding, 20 residents were then moved to local hospitals as a precaution, though none were in distress.
Electricity was restored to Palms Care that evening and residents returned to the nursing home later that same day. The Sun-Sentinel reports that iguanas are second-leading animal-related cause of power outages in South Florida, after squirrels. Administrator Karlene Case told the newspaper that everything was OK at the facility Friday, but declined to comment on the state of the lizard. “The building is fine,” she said. “All the patients are well.”
