New fencing around a school was found to have become accidentally electrified when a couple reported "showers of sparks".
John Halford said he saw a "very bright light shining out of the fence" at Grove School in Shropshire on Sunday.
Western Power Distribution said a damaged street light cable had let in water and "enabled power to track to the metal fence and become live".
The Market Drayton school has asked for a full service report on the incident.
There have been no reports of injuries, although Mr Halford said his gloves had been "scorched".
Mr Halford said he and his wife Jan were walking home at about 20:30 GMT on Sunday when they noticed the fence looked "very weird".
He said: "There were sparks, it was glowing white hot, a current was obviously flowing through [it]."
Mr Halford, a former engineer, said on closer inspection, he realised he was looking at an electric arc.
"If I moved the fence, showers of sparks were coming off, so I knew there's obviously a current..."
They later realised their gloves were "scorched" from briefly touching the fence.
Mrs Halford added she had been concerned, describing the situation as "potentially quite dangerous".
They alerted police who contacted the power company to make the site safe, which they have since done.
"Engineers attended and discovered that an underground street light cable close to one of the fence panels had been damaged," Western Power Distribution said.
"It is thought that over time, the damage has gradually allowed water to get into the cable and this has enabled power to track to the metal fence and become live."
The firm added anyone planning to install fences or carry out excavation work should use tools to pinpoint the location of cables.
The school said it was made aware of an issue on Monday, adding there was no evidence the cable was damaged by any fencing.
"As a result of this notification, we spoke to the power provider who confirmed they attended a faulty street light on Sunday to isolate and repair a cable. We have requested the full service report and hope to have this within 24 hours," a spokesperson said.
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