West Seattle, Washington
28 Thursday
We obtained followup information today about two West Seattle incidents we reported last weekend:
SUNDAY FIRE: SFD firefighters extinguished a fire at a residence in the 3900 block of SW Holly on Sunday afternoon. Today SFD spokesperson Kaila Lafferty tells WSB today, “The cause of the fire was determined accidental, likely caused by a charging electrical device overheating and igniting nearby combustible materials.”
SATURDAY OUTAGE: More than 200 customers in North Delridge were out for hours on Saturday, and it was mapped as two adjacent outages, one that started in the morning, one in the evening. City Light spokesperson Julie Moore tells WSB, “The initial outage was due to a line down at Puget Boulevard SW and SW Hudson Street. We don’t know what caused the line to fail. To safely make repairs, the crew had to de-energize a larger area, which appeared on the map as a separate event. All customers were restored around 9:20 p.m.”
Readers are reporting brown water in Upper Gatewood and near Fairmount Park. They’ve also reported it to Seattle Public Utilities (206-386-1800 is the number to call any time). So far “probably hydrant testing” is the only explanation provided – the water-woes map doesn’t show any current or recent emergencies.
Thanks to Barbara for the tip: 221 Seattle City Light customers are without power in North Delridge – above is a screengrab from the SCL outage map, which shows it as two separate but adjacent outages. No indication yet of the cause.
10:41 PM: According to the SCL outage map, this has been resolved.
5:56 PM: Thanks for the tip! Seattle City Light says 319 customers in the Brace Point area lost power just before 5:30 pm. That’s the same area where SCL has been working for months on a long-delayed project to replace equipment including buried cables that have factored into past outages. No word yet what’s to blame this time.
1:25 AM MONDAY: Still out, per SCL’s map.
Firefighters are out testing hydrants today in Gatewood; we spotted this one at 37th and Holden. Hydrant-testing stirs up sediment – aka rust – in the lines, and that can lead to discolored water in the area. We’ve already heard from one person who had it, though he says it cleared up relatively quickly. Always a good idea to report to Seattle Public Utilities at 206-386-1800 if you’re not absolutely sure of the cause (it could also mean there’s a water break nearby, for example).
Seattle City Light wants to ensure you know its new voluntary option for how you’re billed for electricity at home, the “Time of Use Rate,” is available, and it’s launched an online tool to help you evaluate it. Here’s how the rate is explained by SCL:
With TOU, when you use electricity affects how much you pay. Electricity costs more during peak hours (from 5 to 9 PM), when demand is highest, but it will cost less during other times.
By shifting some of your electricity use to off-peak hours, you can reduce your bill. Plus, you’ll help make our power grid more efficient.
Our TOU rate has three pricing periods:
-Peak hours (most expensive): 5 to 9 PM, Monday through Saturday (excluding observed holidays).
-Mid-peak hours (moderate pricing): 6 AM to 5PM and 9 PM to midnight, Monday through Saturday. On Sundays and holidays, mid-peak pricing lasts all day (6 AM to midnight).
-Off-peak hours (least expensive): Midnight to 6 AM, every day.Learn more about TOU rates on our Residential Rates page.
City Light’s announcement today explains how to access the new online tool that can help you figure out whether changing to this kind of rate would save money.
(Added: Photo courtesy Deb Barker)
The arrival of warm weather means the start of construction season for utility and street projects. King County Wastewater Treatment just reminded us that work starts tomorrow on the next phase of a repair project involving the underground pump station at Lowman Beach and adjacent pipes. If you’ve been to the Lowman Beach area lately, you might have noticed crews staging:
King County is rebuilding a damaged sewer pipe to maintain reliable sewer service for West Seattle residents near Lowman Beach Park and protect public health and Puget Sound.
The Murray Pump Station has two pressurized sewer pipes, also known as force mains. These pipes run parallel under Beach Drive Southwest and help move sewage to West Point Treatment Plant, where it is cleaned and safely discharged into Puget Sound. In March 2022, one of the pressurized pipes broke due to severe corrosion. King County repaired about 800 feet of the damaged pipe at that time. This project will repair the remaining 350 feet of damaged pipe and install two air valves to help reduce pipe corrosion in the repaired pipe.
This work needs to occur during the dry season when wastewater flows are lower. Road and park restoration will occur in fall 2026 after the pipe is rebuilt.
What to expect during construction:
-No interruption to wastewater service.
-One-lane alternating traffic on Beach Drive SW, with steel plates in the road. Bicyclists should use extreme caution passing through the work area.
-Lowman Beach Park playground, beach and sidewalks will remain open during construction
KCWTD spokesperson Akiko Oda also tells us, “Starting in June, crews will also repair sewer pipeline on Beach Drive SW. During this work, signs will be posted indicating that some street parking will be reserved for construction use. We’ll share more details as we get closer.”
9:38 AM: SFD is arriving in the 7200 block of Dumar Way SW [map] for a possible gas leak/break. Police are also headed that way to deal with traffic. Avoid the area.
9:41 AM: First firefighters on scene are reporting this might be only a kitchen-stove problem and they’re working to shut off the gas. They’re closing Dumar between Delridge and 16th for now, but in the meantime, SFD is reducing its response size.
10:03 AM: Police have just told dispatch that the street is reopening, as this incident wraps up.
Seattle Fire has dispatched four units to the 4000 block of 22nd SW on Pigeon Point to deal with a reported natural-gas line break. They’re checking to see if nearby residences should evacuate too until it’s fixed.
9 PM: SFD has cleared.
If you live in the Fauntleroy-area neighborhood where Seattle City Light is working on long-needed underground repairs and updates, Brace Point, you’ve probably closely followed their progress. For those who haven’t, here’s the latest of SCL’s periodic updates:
Seattle City Light contractors continue to work on the underground electrical infrastructure serving the Brace Point neighborhood. They are installing new duct banks, conduits, cables, vaults, and streetlights. The new infrastructure will help reduce the risk of outages and improve service for residents.
Underground civil construction is approximately 32% complete. Our crews have installed 3,470 linear feet of conduit and 13 underground electrical vaults. We expect to finish most civil construction by the end of 2026. After that, crews will focus on cleaning staging areas and restoring the project area to the same, if not better, condition.
You can reach our team at bracepointcable@stephersonassociates.com or 206-312-0021.
If you would like to talk to a member of the project team in person, you can find us in the upstairs meeting room at the Southwest Branch of the Seattle Public Library on Wednesday, April 8 from 12-1 PM.
Current work areas:
Southwest Brace Point Drive: Crews are working near the intersection of 46th Ave. SW and SW Brace Point Drive.
47th Ave. Southwest: Crews are working north along 47th Ave. SW near the intersection of 46th Ave. SW and SW Roxbury St. Please drive carefully through this intersection and expect changing traffic patterns as the work progresses.
Longer than usual delays: Concrete pours are scheduled to occur on Wednesdays from 8 AM – 2 PM for the remainder of the project. Due to the narrow streets, trucks may have to park in the right-of-way. Please plan for longer than normal delays during these times.
Pedestrian trail: Crews are running new conduit and replacing the streetlight on the trail between 47th Ave.
Southwest to 48th Ave. Southwest. The trail is closed and expected to reopen in mid-April, once crews have finished the foundation for the new light pole. They will restore any areas disturbed by the project to City standards.Upcoming work areas
46th Ave. Southwest: After crews complete work on Brace Point Drive, they will start utility work on the segment of 46th Ave SW between Brace Point Drive and the intersection of SW Roxbury St and 47th Ave SW.
47th Ave. Southwest: This spring, crews will start working near the south end of 47th Ave. SW and work north towards the intersection of SW 98th St.
The work finally started last fall, five years after the originally projected start date.
Just heard from a Seaview resident who is near 47th and Juneau and wondering if anyone else is experiencing brown water. If it happens to you, please be sure to contact Seattle Public Utilities at 206-386-1800 – causes can vary, from hydrant testing to water-system problems (nothing mapped currently).
If you’re having trouble with a CenturyLink (Lumen) phone line in West Seattle, you’re not alone. We’ve heard from multiple readers having trouble, and one told us the technician they saw this morning said they were the fourth customer they were seeing with the same problem. We don’t have any official info so far but when we hear from multiple readers experiencing a problem, it’s at least a “you’re not alone” occasion.
(WSB photos)
Though they’re working in the street, the crew along Fauntleroy Way east of California is part of the Morgan Junction EV-charging lot project. This is the first of about six weeks that they’re doing overnight work to run power cable across the street. Seattle City Light has said the work will not require a full closure of Fauntleroy at any point; they’re working four nights a week, Mondays through Thursdays, 7 pm to 4 am, with flaggers as needed.
City Light says, “They expect to complete excavation and restoration across Fauntleroy by the end of April. Crews will cover the work area with steel plates outside of work hours. These plates are safe to drive on.” The project has contractor Zenisco turning an old substation site at 4118 SW Morgan into an eight-space EV-fast-charging lot – yes, drivers will pay for the power – expected to open by late summer.
9:22 PM: Also happening on Alki right now, SFD is dealing with a gas leak at a residential building in the 1200 block of Alki SW [map]. They’re evacuating at least part of the building, firefighters told dispatch. Puget Sound Energy has just arrived, they also said.
10:33 PM: SFD is closing out its response.
4:21 PM: More news from Highland Park Way hill today – this time, a power outage. More than 2,000 customers are out after, according to a 911 dispatch, tree limb(s) fell on wires at Highland Park Way and Othello. Updates to come.
4:38 PM: SCL confirms “tree/vegetation” as the cause.
5:24 PM: Thanks to Kay Kirkpatrick for the photo! City Light crews are on the scene clearing branches, she reports.
5:26 PM: And moments later, we’re getting reports of restoration. The SCL map shows everyone’s back on.
11:33 AM: Thanks to Kersti for the tip and photo. SFD and SPD crews are at California/Graham right now for what’s logged as a gas-leak response.
11:49 AM: The response, logged for a residential address just west of the intersection, is wrapping up. We’re following up with SFD.
12:51 PM: Here’s SFD’s wrapup, via spokesperson Kaila Lafferty: “At 10:50 a.m., crews were dispatched to a report of a natural gas leak on the exterior of a residence at 44th Ave SW & SW Graham St. Crews arrived and detected levels of natural gas. Puget Sound Energy responded and secured the leak. Crews returned to service by 12:02 p.m. No injuries reported.”
9:52 AM: Thanks for the tips. More than 300 customers have lost power in the area where Seattle City Light’s long-awaited Brace Point project is under way, meant to lessen problems with underground cabling that have long led to power outages in the area. No word yet on the cause of today’s outage; one resident reports hearing a “bang” around the time it started ~9:10 am. (Though the SCL map currently projects restoration this afternoon, keep in mind that projected restoration times are only guesses and it could be sooner, or later.)
11:26 AM: 164 still out. The map says the cause was “action by others.” SCL spokesperson Jenn Strang elaborates, “Yes, this is related to construction activities in the area. A fuse on a terminal pole was affected resulting in the unplanned outage. ”
1:50 PM: Map shows the original 319 total out again (which sometimes happens during restoration work).
10:14 PM: 70 customers are still out after 13 hours.
10:19 AM: Thanks for the tips – multiple readers say Xfinity has confirmed an outage in north West Seattle affecting, at last report, up to 2,000 customers, reported to be affecting internet and TV, with the cause listed as “network damage.”
12:44 PM: Commenter “Onion” says below that their service resumed about 10 minutes ago.
Bill reports brown water in Arbor Heights, vicinity of SW 99th and 39th SW. No incidents currently on the Seattle Public Utilities trouble map. Any time you notice this, the SPU number to call is 206-386-1800. It can sometimes be a sign of as-yet-unreported trouble with a nearby line, but it also can be a result of SFD testing a nearby hydrant.
Since Seattle City Light told us Monday that work would start at the Morgan Junction EV-charging lot site this week, we’ve been checking there daily to see whether that would indeed happen. No signs of activity Tuesday – but we just went by again today and spotted the new NO TRESPASSING sign above, as well as tubes labeled as project-document storage:
(The labels read Traffic Control Plan, Permits, Construction Stormwater and Erosion Control Plan, Construction Drainage Plans, and Electrical Permit.) No work crew at the site currently but we’ll go back to check tomorrow. SCL says it’s expecting the eight-charger site at 4118 SW Morgan – originally planned for 2022 – to be operational this August.
(WSB photo of future EV lot, last November)
For everyone watching for signs of construction at Morgan Junction’s future city-operated EV-charging lot site, you won’t have to wait much longer – Seattle City Light says on-site work is finally about to begin. SCL spokesperson Jenn Strang says contractor Zenisco Inc. “will begin work at the … site this week.” She adds, “We currently anticipate the chargers will be operational in August 2026.” Eight chargers are planned for the lot, on the site of a long-ago SCL substation kittycorner across SW Morgan from West Seattle Thriftway (WSB sponsor). We first reported on the project almost four years ago, at which the utility had hoped to start work within a year. We’re asking for any construction notice that might have gone to neighbors with details also helpful to people who drive, ride, and walk in that area, as well as any new details about one component of construction expected to require trenching on Fauntleroy Way, north of the site.
Seattle Public Utilities just sent the reminder – this is the last week for “free” composting of Christmas trees and other holiday greenery – either via curbside pickup, or transfer-station dropoff:
Remove all decorations, cut into sections 4-foot or less, and place trees or bundled greens next to your Food & Yard Waste cart on your regular collection day. Apartment residents may place up to two trees next to each Food & Yard waste cart at no charge. You can also drop off up to 3 trees less than 8 feet in length at a Transfer Station.
The “free” tree-cycling continues through Saturday (January 31). After that, you’ll have to chop up your tree so it fits in your yard/food-waste cart, or take it to the transfer station (South, in west South Park, is the closest)
Jake reports brown water near 37th SW and SW 99th. Nothing on the Seattle Public Utilities water-trouble map. As always, the reminder – if this happens at your home/business, call SPU at 206-386-1800. (One frequent explanation is hydrant testing, which SFD does as time allows, but that seems unlikely on a freezing night.(
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