UPDATE: Overnight power outage in parts of White Center, West Seattle
(Map of outage area, from Seattle City Light website)
12:56 AM: More than 3,500 homes/businesses are without power in parts of White Center and southeast West Seattle, according to Seattle City Light‘s outage map. No word yet on the cause.
1:33 AM UPDATE: 90 percent of those who lost power got it back around 1:15 am, after about 45 minutes. City Light’s map still shows almost 300 homes/businesses in White Center still without power:
Commenters here and on our partner site West Seattle Blog have mentioned the utility/emergency response centered at 8th/Roxbury; here’s what SCl just tweeted about the cause:
Crews have identified an equipment failure in an underground vault as the cause for the White Center-W. Seattle outage.
— Seattle City Light (@SEACityLight) August 31, 2016
6:30 AM: Power has since been fully restored to the entire affected area.
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August 31st, 2016 at 1:15 am
I was sitting at the south side of 8th ave taking a break from my walk and there was a huge explosion, then there was a second and I seen the flash, I got up and started to walk home and then as I was walking there was a third explosion and a 8 maybe 10 foot fireball came from the south east corner of 8th and Roxbury. When I walked down there after the police arrived there was smoke and it looked like flames coming up through the utility hole. Or sewer hole.. It could have been a transformer but it genuinely sounded like a bomb to me. 3 explosions one after the other. I’m just getting home when I left there were police, fire, Seattle city light and I think the bomb squad. Thank god for flashlights because it’s pitch black.
August 31st, 2016 at 1:32 am
Thanks – we had a report on West Seattle Blog of emergency crews at that intersection. 90 percent of those who lost power are back on now but almost 300 are still out in White Center, including that area.
August 31st, 2016 at 2:10 am
Follow-up tweet says they’re waiting for smoke to clear to start repairs.