Loud booms and a reported 16th Ave E transformer fire preceded a power outage that disrupted service to around 5,000 customers across Capitol Hill Monday night.

Seattle City Light said service was restored for most customers by just before 12:30 AM on the icy night, blaming “equipment failure” for the outage that began about two hours earlier.

Witnesses reported loud booms and the transformer fire near 16th and Thomas just after 10:30 PM. Seattle Fire was called to the scene to make sure the fire was out while Seattle City Light workers began the effort to restore service to around 4,700 customers in a swath across Capitol Hill from around Summit Ave to the Miller Park area.

There were no reported injuries from the fires.

CHS will follow up with City Light to find out more about what caused the equipment failure.

UPDATE 1/17/2024: A Seattle City Light spokesperson said there were multiple points of failure behind Monday night’s outage. That “chain of events” also made for a more complex repair as crews found additional problems as they made repairs.

According to the spokesperson, something caused two lightning arresters to fail leading to the transformer explosions heard around the neighborhood. Deterioration and moisture are typical elements in that kind of breakdown. It was later determined that a switch had also failed.

The equipment has been repaired and replaced, the spokesperson said.

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