Tag Archives: power outages

City Light heads into overtime after seagull reportedly knocks out Pike/Pine power

Posted on by

Cal Anderson mural - seagull

See latest outage updates at seattle.gov/light/sysstat/

See latest outage updates at seattle.gov/light/sysstat/

Seattle City Light crews were racing against the clock Saturday morning with several Pike/Pine and Broadway bars and restaurants rooting for a last minute big play. Meanwhile, area seagulls were in mourning.

A power outage starting around 8 AM left more than 300 customers in the dark around the intersection of Pine and Broadway Saturday as fans awaited the noontime kickoff of the national semifinal college football game pitting Washington vs. Alabama in the Peach Bowl. “We were planning on showing the Huskies at noon. Will keep you posted when power is back on. Crossing our fingers, @SEACityLight!,” @optimismbrewing tweeted.

A department representative tells CHS that Seattle Fire reported the outage was caused by a seagull that touched overhead lines, causing a “bridge” that overloaded current and destroyed equipment at the scene. Overhead crews aren’t typically on call on the weekend so City Light workers headed into overtime to try to help area watering holes be part of the big game.

Seattle City light estimated a 1:30 PM restoration of service.

Capitol Hill part of big winds, big booms, and power outages across Seattle

Posted on by
Seattle City Light System Status -- see the latest updates

Seattle City Light System Status — see the latest updates

A late Sunday afternoon of surging gusts and booming transformers left thousands without power across northern Capitol Hill and Seattle.

While the Capitol Hill area made it through the initial brunt of the afternoon windstorm, another surge in windy conditions after 3 PM toppled trees, branches, and utility wires.

At least two big booms were heard around 3:30 PM when a large swath of power outages struck around northern Capitol Hill. Crews were called to an area near 22nd and Madison to deal with one incident. Power outages in that area left many buildings dark including the nearby Safeway where passengers were stuck in an elevator. On E Denny just east of 12th Ave, a tree toppled onto a parked car and blocked the street. There were no reported injuries. Wires were also reported down in the 400 block of 11th Ave E and a tree leaning precariously on wires forced the closure of an alley in the 200 block of Belmont Ave E.

The day has also been deadly. A man was killed earlier Sunday when his car was struck by a falling tree at Seward Park. A toddler child inside the vehicle survived the accident.

The winds reaching sustained gusts above 50 MPH were also strong enough to require closure of the 520 bridge. Gusts above 40 MPH were measured at a weather station on Capitol Hill. Continue reading →

Windy morning causes power outages around northern Capitol Hill

Posted on by
DSC01472

Downed power line below 26th and Helen. (Image: CHS)

Trees and utility poles buckled around Capitol Hill Thursday morning as wind gusts nearing 45 miles per hour caused a power outage affecting more than 10,000 residents and businesses around Seattle. But by 10 AM, many customers on the northern edges of the Hill and along 19th Ave E and around Volunteer Park already had their electricity restored thanks to a fast response by repair crews dealing with a sparking, flaming downed wire near 26th and E Helen.

While Seattle City Light estimated it would take several hours to restore power to some 5,600 customers from Montlake to E Madison along 24th and 23rd Ave, residents were starting to see the lights come back within an hour.

Seattle Fire crews responded to a fire resulting from the downed power line at 26th and Helen.

SCL expected it would take several hours to restore power to customers still without power around Montlake.

You can see SCL’s power outage map here.

The lesser Capitol Hill Crow Blackout of 2013

Posted on by

Bringing to mind the great Capitol Hill Crow Blackout of May 16th, 2010, 34 Capitol Hill customers are without power until around midnight Monday night after a reported crow vs. power lines incident around 7:30 PM. Here’s the report from Amy:

I’m sure this is old news for you, but there was a loud bang about an hour ago, followed by brownouts. It sounded like it was several blocks away from my place (which is on Belmont & Republican). My landlord just stopped by to say that some of our building has power and some tenants don’t. Our landlord said he heard a crow or two landed on a transformer and somehow that was enough to make it explode. If true, that must have been thr unluckiest crow ever.

City Light estimates a return to service by 11:40 PM. RIP, crow.