2:04 AM: Thanks for the tip. Big power outage in West Seattle – more than 4,700 customers. No word yet on the cause.
2:18 AM: The SCL map, which says the outage started a few minutes before 2 am, calls its cause “environmental.”
2:23 AM: Some commenters say their power’s already back. The SCL map says they’re among 2,000 restored; it’s still out for 2,700 customers.
2:29 AM: Now the map has changed the cause to “tree/vegetation.” Adding a screenshot of the area still out.
2:48 AM: A “brush fire” to which SFD responded at 42nd/Dawson an hour before the outage started is now looking like the likely cause, as suggested by this report and photo received from Amanda:
There was a large tree that caught on fire on 42nd Ave SW / Dawson at around 12:50 AM. My baby woke up first and then we all jumped out of bed since our entire house smelled like a fire. My husband thankfully went outside to check and that’s when he then saw the tree on fire and called it in. Tree was in the power lines so it may be why there is an outage now.
4:34 AM: Not resolved yet.
5:50 AM: Resolved since our last check.
4:54 PM: SCL’s Jenn Strang confirms to WSB that the outage had its roots in the aforementioned tree situation:
Yes, there was a fire at that location reported about an hour before the outage. City Light was called in to assist. Upon finding a wire down with a tree involved, crews requested that the area be deenergized for safe access.
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