Bureau of Reclamation worker Ted McFall, who first reported the fire, said a woodpecker landed on the Coulee Dam feeder-four powerline at Candy Point and somehow caused a transformer to fail.

He said a fuse blew and the woodpecker caught on fire.

The woodpecker then fell to the ground and caused the grass to catch on fire.

The blown fuse knocked out power to the east end of Coulee Dam for about 45 minutes and sent a surge through the rest of the Grand Coulee Dam area, McFall said.

He said since he works at the switchyards near Candy Point, he knew where the surge started and went to see what happened.

McFall said he looked to the power pole and saw that a small fire had started. He called the bureau dispatcher who contacted the local fire departments.

Firefighters from the bureau, Grand Coulee, Electric City, Douglas County Fire District 3, Coulee Dam and Okanogan County Fire District 2 were called to the fire.

The fire spread toward the road leading to the Crown Point Lookout and below the powerlines.

The firefighters mostly contained the fire at approximately 10:45 a.m. Officials believe it burned about 10 acres.

After the fire was put out, the woodpecker's body was found near the power pole.