West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
Thanks for the photos from spring’s first sunset! The panorama above is from David Hutchinson. Below, Scott Scowcroft was at Alice Enevoldsen‘s 40th change-of-seasons watch at Solstice Park (we had to miss it because of breaking news):
Alice says it went well. (ADDED EARLY THURSDAY) Two more photos from her event, by Jason Enevoldsen, who counted about 90 in attendance:
And what a sunset it was! Another view, from Lynn Hall:
Right around the same time, the full moon rose in the east – as noted after our roundup of today’s moonset photos, you can look for tomorrow’s moonset around 7:27 am.
(Added: Photo courtesy nearby resident Brooks)
6:49 PM: A Seattle Fire “full response” is at a house in the 5400 block of 44th SW. SFD says it’s a “mainly exterior” fire. We’ll be there shortly.
(WSB photo)
7:02 PM: The house is at 44th/Brandon. Still some small flames visible on its exterior.
7:17 PM: SFD is investigating how the fire started. No one was inside at the time but one of the residents was reported to have been at a neighbor’s house. Pets that were in the home were all brought out safely.
10:33 PM: No word yet on the cause – we’re likely to get that info tomorrow.
ADDED 10 AM THURSDAY: SFD’s Kristin Tinsley says, “Fire investigators ruled the fire as accidental and determined the estimated loss is $250,000. The fire was caused by an electrical malfunction in the house wiring at the location of a soffit-mounted light above the back door of the residence.”
(Added: Video of tree/wire fire, from Betsy)
5:25 PM: We’ve received widespread reports of brief power flickers, and some heard two “booms.” Now there’s a report of a power line down at 26th/Juneau, with what firefighters arriving in the area describe as a “small brush fire” – they’re awaiting City Light.
5:55 PM: Just went by the scene. City Light is there. The downed wire has ceased “arc-ing and spark-ing.” The site is just east of the Delridge Substation.
5:57 PM: And now, a 6,200+-customer outage, mostly south of that site. Related? We don’t know. But some traffic signals are affected – on Barton at Westwood Village, for example, and Delridge/Holden.
6:07 PM: We are at WWV. Some stores are out but some (notably, east-facing) are not.
6:23 PM: A variety of areas are affected, including parts of Fauntleroy, where the culvert-info open house is on thanks to light from big windows. Above, another signal that’s out – 35th/Barton. Remember it’s a 4-way stop if it’s not working.
7:05 PM: Some areas got power back, according to texts and comments. The SCL map isn’t reflecting that yet.
7:15 PM: Now the map shows all but a few should have power back. If you don’t – please call SCL to be sure they know – 206-684-3000.
7:43 PM: SCL tweeted that a tree is to blame for the outage. Meantime, we’ve added nearby resident Betsy‘s video of the 26th/Juneau tree fire atop this story.
9:15 PM: 400+ customers are still out, per the outage map.
12:53 AM: Those 407 customers are still out. If you’re among them, please let us know when your power is restore – there’s no online record otherwise; the outage just vanishes from the SCL map (which we’ve just screengrabbed).
Along with what’s on our highlight list published earlier today, one more event we should mention, because it might be coming to you instead of the other way around: At 6 pm, 34th District legislators Reps. Eileen Cody and Joe Fitzgibbon and Sen. Joe Nguyen are holding a telephone town hall. According to the announcement, “Calls will go out to thousands of households (landlines) throughout the district. Residents will be able to listen live and ask their lawmakers questions.” Even if you don’t get the call, you should be able to listen by going here – where you should find archived audio later.
(Added: Texted photo)
3:12 PM: In case you’re seeing this too: Checking out a crime scene in White Center, our crew noticed a big plume of dark smoke to the south and headed south to look for it. It’s a big brush fire in the Park Lake area, affecting 15th/16th SW south of SW 107th.
3:31 PM: Our crew has talked with the fire chief on scene. He confirms the fire has spread to a building. No injuries reported.
3:51 PM: 16th SW is closed between 110th and 112th, so if you’re heading through that area, you’ll need to detour around.
9:24 PM: Updates – 16th SW had reopened by the time we checked back around dusk. Also, investigators say this was arson, and a suspect is in custody – a 34-year-old man. Three firefighters were injured in what was eventually classified as a three-alarm fire.
Brush and apt fire 10700 blk 14 Ave SW.
No injuries reported.
Fire is 3 alarms due to size and warm conditions pic.twitter.com/qPa9YYazne— Puget Sound Fire (@PugetSoundFire) March 20, 2019
What you see in that framegrab from the SDOT traffic camera looking south along California SW in The Junction is the raised midblock crosswalk in the 4700 block. WSB reader Karen copied us recently on a note she sent City Councilmember Lisa Herbold about safety concerns:
The painted markings are worn off and make crossing nearly invisible to drivers, particularly northbound drivers in the curb lane, and especially in rain and darkness.
We use that crosswalk weekly and during three of our last four crossings we witnessed, waved at and yelled at drivers speeding through the occupied crosswalk. In talking with local business we learned that repeated requests to SDOT have not been addressed. Action needs to be taken before there is a serious injury or fatality. Please address this ASAP with SDOT.
Today, Karen forwarded this note from SDOT:
As part of the Levy to Move Seattle, SDOT has moved to a four-year rotation schedule for all marked crosswalks in Seattle to ensure that all crosswalks are maintained on a regular basis. SDOT repaints approximately 1,500 crosswalks throughout the city per year. Pavement marking work such as crosswalk repainting requires dry weather, so most of this work occurs during the dry spring and summer months.
We have shared your feedback with our Signs and Markings staff. The crosswalk on the 4700 block of California Avenue SW is scheduled to be repainted this year.
(Anna’s Hummingbird, photographed by Kersti Muul)
Spring starts this afternoon! From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
SUMMER FEST INFO SESSION: 2 pm at West Seattle Windermere, join the Junction Association for Q&A about being a vendor, artist, crafter, etc. at this July’s West Seattle Summer Fest! (4526 California SW)
FAUNTLEROY CULVERTS PROJECT INFO: 5-7 pm at The Hall at Fauntleroy, Seattle Public Utilities invites you to stop by their “open house”-style informational event about the plan to replace two of the culverts that carry Fauntleroy Creek underground. (9131 California SW)
PURIM CELEBRATION: Kol HaNeshamah invites everyone – 5:30 pm: “Join us for a Purim celebration featuring the Megillah reading, dinner, and a costume parade. Festivities will begin at 5:30 pm with hamantaschen baking and mask making for kids. Dinner and the Megillah reading will begin at 6 pm. Please come in costume and bring a potluck dish (vegetarian, nut free) to share!” (6115 SW Hinds)
(Last sunset of winter, photographed by David Hutchinson)
SPRING EQUINOX SUNSET WATCH: 6:30 pm at Solstice Park – with sunset just after 7 pm – join Alice Enevoldsen for her 40th change-of-seasons sunset watch! (7400 Fauntleroy Way SW)
WORDSWEST LITERARY SERIES: Poet Catherine Barnett and fiction writer Renee Simms are the featured readers, 7 pm at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), free. Details in our calendar listing. (5612 California SW)
DELRIDGE NEIGHBORHOODS DISTRICT COUNCIL: 7 pm at Neighborhood House High Point. All welcome to talk about issues and ideas involving eastern West Seattle. (6400 Sylvan Way SW)
SO MUCH MORE IS HAPPENING … you can see for yourself by checking our complete calendar.
Thanks for the photos of this morning’s marvelous moonset! Above is from James Bratsanos; below, from Chris Frankovich:
From David Hutchinson:
And from Jim Borrow:
(Added) One more – from Kersti Muul:
The moon is not officially full until tonight – the first time in 38 years the full moon and spring equinox have been on the same date! (You can always find moonset/moonrise times on the WSB West Seattle Weather page – 7:09 pm moonrise tonight, 7:27 am moonset tomorrow.)
(Photos courtesy Seattle Audubon)
Haven’t finalized summer-camp plans yet? Seattle Audubon tells WSB there’s still room in its West Seattle day camps! They’re offering weeklong day camps in July and August, based at Explorer West Middle School (WSB sponsor) and with all of West Seattle’s natural wonder to explore.
You can see the dates and themes by going here. There are West Seattle sessions for kids and teens going into grades 1 through 9. Registration – including information about applying for scholarships – starts here.
(SDOT MAP with travel times/ Is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE/ West Seattle-relevant traffic cams HERE)
6:58 AM: Good morning! Spring arrives in 8 hours. No incidents or transit alerts so far.
FERRIES: Still 2 boats on the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth route.
METRO REMINDER: Saturday brings the next service change, and we learned on Tuesday that a Pioneer Square bus stop will be added to some routes on 1st, as has been requested/discussed.
7:36 AM: Alert for the stadium zone this morning – the annual Starbucks shareholder meeting is at 10 am at WaMu Theater.
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