Squirrel causes power outage in Auburn, closing learning center and turning traffic signals dark

AUBURN, Wash. — A power outage affecting over 5,000 customers in Auburn has prompted an early learning center to close and caused traffic signals to go dark throughout the area.

Valley Christian School in Auburn shared on social media that they would be closed today due to the power outage.

According to the City of Auburn, Puget Sound Energy (PSE) was working to get the power back on as soon as possible after it was first reported to be out around 8:30 a.m.

As of around 9:30 a.m., PSE was assessing the damage. The cause of the outage was listed as “Bird Or Animal”.

KIRO 7 spoke with Puget Sound Energy, who says a squirrel got into the equipment.

The next step for PSE was to reroute the power to non-damaged equipment. Once the power is rerouted, PSE will be able to repair the damaged equipment and eventually restore power to the original transformer.

The city of Auburn shared that traffic signals went dark at Highway 18 at Auburn Way South, Main Street & Division Street, 2nd & A Street, and Main Street & A Street Southwest.

They reminded drivers to treat these dark intersections as a 4-way stop to prevent accidents.

At 11:30 a.m., Puget Sound Energy reported that only 1,617 customers were being impacted, and a repair crew was onsite.

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