Bird nest causes widespread power outage in Ballard on Sunday

Meghan Walker Ballard

A widespread power outage affected thousands of Seattle City Light customers on Sunday (Oct. 27) morning in Ballard.

Seattle City Light (SCL) said that 12,888 customers were without power in Ballard on Sunday after a bird nest came into contact with energized wires. The outage started around 8 a.m. and was restored at around 10 a.m. for most customers.

It’s not the first time an animal caused a widespread outage. In 2016, a raccoon wandered into the 8th Ave NW substation and caused an outage that affected 38,000 people.