Update: Rat caused power outage

Submitted by KOMO Staff on Monday, November 2nd, 01:13pm

A rat got into the Canal Substation (6th NW & NW 45th) and shorted a large "bus" (a common connection point) for five different feeder lines, the major electrical lines into the neighborhoods, causing them to shut down early this morning, according to a City Light spokesman.

City Light rerouted the circuits, and power was restored to 12,290 customers.

Seattle City Light tweeted that the power was restored in 2 hours, but some customers have told us the outage lasted longer than that.

Rodent photo by asplosh via Flickr.

This article originally appeared on Fremont News

Filed Under:

Urban Wildlife

Comments

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Monday, November 2nd, 03:22pm.

Sizzle sizzle little ratty.....

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Monday, November 2nd, 04:42pm.

So the power went out. What about the real news? How is the rat?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Monday, November 2nd, 06:14pm.

No doubt fried. A squirrel shorted a transformer outside my son's house several years ago and it was fried, imagine how many volts the rat took.

Submitted by Sostane (not verified) on Monday, November 2nd, 10:10pm.

The correct term is that they "tweeted" not twittered. Twitter is the application but you tweet like a lil birdie on it. We noticed that the emergency exit lights thought out the buidling were not working during the outage.

So if you live in an apt make sure that you not only check your own units batteries but the hall way emergency exits as well.

Submitted by Amy Roe on Tuesday, November 3rd, 09:36am.

Tweeted. Of course. I will go and change that to reflect AP style :)

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wednesday, November 4th, 12:43am.

long live the rat

Submitted by bgcarter (not verified) on Wednesday, November 4th, 06:41pm.

I was still up when the power went out just after midnight.

It was quite eerie standing on my corner and looking at my entire neighborhood. Completely Dark. It was somehow unsettling and exciting at the same time.

As my neighbors were all sleeping oblivious to the issue , I walked around sunset hill. It seemed so....vulnerable. Who else was walking around? Where there wolves, foxes, night creatures pouring into the shadow and creeping up on the unexpected? There was a full moon that lathered soft light everywhere making the the houses rows of eggs with me traipsing down the middle of the carton. I resisted the urge to wake my neighbors, to gather flashlights and fire to disburse the primal night.

And now I find it was a rat that performed this transformation of my community. One hapless little rat dies. A community of thousands of homes become little more than cabins with the hearth fires suddenly extinguished.

For me, the dark was illuminating.

I'd buy a generator, but where'd be the fun in that?