3:59 AM: Thanks for the tip. Another power outage in West Seattle – this one much bigger than the one we mentioned earlier: More than 3,200 homes and businesses.
4:21 AM: Some just got their power back (thanks for the texts). The map now has the outage down to 2,800+ customers. As for a cause, one possibility – SFD responded to a call logged as a “transformer fire” around 3:25 am at Avalon/Andover, described by the arriving crew as a “pole fire.” … Archived audio for that dispatch includes a firefighter warning that it was “burning through to a high-tension wire” and calling for Avalon to be closed in that area.
4:48 AM: The map shows the outage is now down to 481 customers.
11:11 AM NOTE: Thanks to the texters who sent photos of the City Light crew at work earlier this morning. The outage wsa reported over by about quarter past 9. The photo above is from nearby restaurateur John Bennett, who notes this pole has had at least two previous transformer fires; in this case, lightning is blamed.
