(CHEHALIS, WA) -- Bonneville Power Administration says the
cause of the power outage that affected thousands of Lewis County PUD and
Centralia City Light customers Friday was a snagged power line at the site of a
new grocery warehouse under construction at the Port of Centralia.
According to
the agency, when the incident happened it tripped a circuit on the 69-kilovolt line at their Chehalis substation as a safety precaution, creating the
widespread outage. The outage began about 9:50 AM.
Lewis County PUD says they
had power restored to their customers by just before 11 AM. According to
Centralia City Light, power was restored to all of their customers by 12:30 PM.
Investigation Underway, Incident Injures Workers
The state Department of Labor and
Industries is investigating the industrial accident that happened Friday
morning at the site of the new grocery warehouse at the Port of Centralia.
Riverside Fire Authority says crews were dispatched to the scene just before 10
AM. Two men were working near a personnel lift at the rear of the building. The lift was raised and either came in contact with overhead BPA power lines or was
close enough to the lines that it caused the electricity to arc across to the
lift.
Authorities say the electricity traveled through the lift and to the two
men who were on the ground. They were injured but were conscious when medics
arrived. The two men were transported to Providence Centralia Hospital. The
extent of their injuries had not been released.
