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Doggone it: Pup’s party tent reportedly causes brief Capitol Hill power outage

Seattle City Light says a gust of wind and a party tent caused a power outage that briefly knocked out power to more than 4,000 customers across Capitol Hill on Saturday afternoon.

Saturday, around 1 PM, near Belmont at Republican, a canopy tent was reported on wires after falling from a nearby building. A City Light crew was dispatched and electricity was quickly restored to thousands with the final 1,000 back in power by 5 PM.

CHS has reported on a variety of causes for Hill blackouts over the years.

 

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Typically, wind, rain, and branches are the culprit. Sadly, more than a few birds have set down in the wrong place and left blocks without power over the years. These balloons, however, were innocent.

City Light didn’t say how the canopy ended up on the wires but a reliable CHS reader — the best kind — reports that a neighbor in a nearby building had been planning a rooftop dog birthday party that afternoon.

We’re glad nobody was injured and we hope the dog enjoyed the memorable marking of its birthday.

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Prost Seattle
Prost Seattle
5 years ago

People have dog birthday parties?

andrew taylor
andrew taylor
5 years ago
Reply to  Prost Seattle

Probably makes as much sense as a birthday party for a 1 year old (nonfur) baby.

BTW: First law of human kid parties: no more guests than the child’s age.

Second law: your cake will be judged solely on its frosting.

Third law: the guest of honor will be the worst behaved child at the party.

fjnd
fjnd
5 years ago
Reply to  Prost Seattle

I had a Sweet Sixteen party for my cats. Very quiet, indoors. Because they were cats.

Goodtimes
Goodtimes
5 years ago

I wonder if the guilty party was held financially responsible for all the food that went bad at QFC due to this power outage?

RoverRover
RoverRover
5 years ago
Reply to  Goodtimes

Grocers have insurance for losses due to power outages.

zeebleoop
5 years ago
Reply to  Goodtimes

Grocery stores typically have back-up generators to help keep their perishable items refrigerated/frozen in the event that the power goes out.

Andrew Taylor
Andrew Taylor
5 years ago

Grocers also have well-tested routines to preserve frozen food for the typical power outage: plastic sheeting and/or cardboard over deli cases/freezers without doors is the most obvious.

Whichever
Whichever
5 years ago

A party for a dog – one such that a tent was needed? The dog people in this town are fkn nuts. Seriously.

Michael W
Michael W
5 years ago

Fine work on the headline. Bravo.

R
R
5 years ago

While I’d rather go to a dog’s birthday party than a human’s… I’ve got to question the quality of a dog owner who 1. thinks a rooftop dog party is more enjoyable tor the dogs than a party at a dog park, 2. wants to be outside in the middle of January, and 3. buys a canopy, lugs it all the way to the roof, and realizes there’s no reasonable way to stake it down but puts it up anyway. At the end of the day, I just feel bad for the dog with the embarassing parents.

R
R
5 years ago

Also, does anyone know what the culprit is liable for if they are able to identify? Aside from fixing the damage, I heard that Seattle Fire had their hands full with false fire alarms and elevator rescues well into Saturday evening, I just can’t help but wonder if they will face punishment… or if sadly, they will never learn?

Whichever
Whichever
5 years ago
Reply to  R

Dog nuts don’t care. They rely on the dog culture around here to basically exempt them from it (just like honoring leash laws, picking up their shit, etc).

R
R
5 years ago
Reply to  Whichever

I agree to an extent, based on how I’ve seen other dog owners act, but I hope you’re not lumping ALL dog owners in your group of “dog nuts”. I own a dog and he is always leashed (unless in an off-leash area) and his shit is always picked up. Just sayin…

Whichever
Whichever
5 years ago
Reply to  Whichever

One person shits their pants, the whole group wears diapers. Sorry! Keep being better than the rest of the dog owners – the rest of the non-dog nut citizens appreciate it.

Fairly Obvious
Fairly Obvious
5 years ago
Reply to  Whichever

I wonder if AbleDanger is also in favor of lumping all gun owners into a single category based on the gun owners that commit mass shootings.

RWK
RWK
5 years ago

This seems like a stupid, but entirely innocent mistake. So, prosecution not warranted.

Dan
Dan
5 years ago
Reply to  RWK

Thanks for being reasonable amidst all the judgement and assumptions, Bob.

I heard from another resident of the Stream Belmont that the individuals setting up the canopy were in the process of tying it down when a strong gust knocked it off the roof. So, yes, not the smartest plan to erect a tent on a rooftop in January, but the “culprits” seem far from the entitled, oblivious idiots they’re accused of being.

R
R
5 years ago
Reply to  Dan

I’ve lived on that block for 10 years now and based on my experience it’s safe to assume that at least 80% of the new residents in the area are entitled, oblivious idiots.

Erecting a tent on a rooftop in January for a dog party when there are plenty of other very normal, viable, even indoor location options where dogs can actually play and have fun, to me, is the definition of being an entitled and oblivious idiot. No other way around that.

cd neighbor
cd neighbor
5 years ago
Reply to  RWK

Prosecution is likely not warranted, as I doubt there’s been any crime… but liability… even entirely innocent mistakes generally require someone to be liable for their costs – if not the party that made the mistake (or more likely their insurance company) then who?

Glenn
Glenn
5 years ago

Let’s go after the awful building owner (deep pockets) for not specifically prohibiting dog parties with tents on the roof. Isn’t that what we do in this city?