In case you heard it too: Bird vs. power line = outage north of Lincoln Park

9 PM: Thanks for the tips. What was described as a boom and a flash is apparently the result of another bird/power line conflict, this time north of Lincoln Park. The Seattle City Light map shows one customer out – though it’s not clear whether that’s a single residence or an entire multifamily building – along Lincoln Park Way.

9:08 PM: The map just updated to 22 customers affected.

9 Replies to "In case you heard it too: Bird vs. power line = outage north of Lincoln Park"

  • TJ June 24, 2019 (9:54 pm)

    These bird caused power outages are almost always between late April thru June and the culprits are crows. Weird. Another reason to disdain them

    • West Seattle Hipster June 25, 2019 (8:00 pm)

      Amen, crows are vile.  Reading some of these comments make me think I am reading The Onion.

  • REBEKAH LASALA June 24, 2019 (10:19 pm)

    Regarding AT&T Outage: My phone went down b/c of problems with some lines in the local area…and not sure what those were. However, I thought it was my bill b/c I am poor and unemployed but it was not my bill.  It was not.  There was an AT&T power outage in the area and I do not know if it was from here with power lines or from AT&T’s end. My phone went down at about 8:45 and just came back at 10 p.m.

  • Ed June 25, 2019 (1:53 am)

    TJ, I’m sure the  crows set out to fry themselves on purpose, just to piss us off. Sheesh! Actually, the more I’m around people, the more I appreciate crows and other non-humans. 

  • JB June 25, 2019 (7:22 am)

    I second that!

  • Beckyjo June 25, 2019 (8:09 am)

    Third! Crows are intelligent and beautiful.

  • anonyme June 25, 2019 (9:21 am)

    Agree with Beckyjo.  Crows are more intelligent than a lot of humans I come in contact with these days.  The really stupid thing is that we have this primitive infrastructure of exposed, live wires strung over our heads, which is both vulnerable in terms of potential accidents, as well as dangerous to living things on land and in the air.

  • Apey June 25, 2019 (10:28 am)

    I agree, crows are extremely intelligent. Unfortunately, in many cases they seem to have decided to use their intelligence for evil rather than good.  ; )

  • Kersti Muul June 25, 2019 (10:38 am)

    Surges in outages at this time of year may be related to crow fledglings; their navigational, landing, and taking off skills are slowly being learned. Clumsy at best. To cause the fuse to pop they must touch two pieces of equipment simultaneously. Could also be the proximity of adult and fledgling sitting close to each other, closing the gap between what would normally be a safe distance.I’ve written this many times on here before, Puget sound energy has bird safe programs in place with any new construction or line built they have to have the wires a safe distance apart.Not sure what city light does but there are deterrents that can be placed on these areas that are easily cross phased by the birds. Crows are indeed amazing creatures. And I would sit on the side of a gratitude that the fuses pop causing brief outages, that are minimized by this action. We are lucky here in City light’s jurisdiction We have very few outages compared to other areas. The infrastructure is such that we have more alleys, and the power lines tend to run down those where there’s less vegetation. -Kersti MuulFormer consulting utility Forester/specialist

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