Bird blamed for power outage that closed WSU Tri-Cites, sent Hanford workers home

A power outage Friday afternoon in north Richland caused the closure of the Washington State University Tri-Cities campus and some Hanford nuclear reservation workers were sent home.

Richland police used social media to warn drivers that many traffic lights were not working about 1:30 p.m.

About 1,500 customers lost service, with some service restored by 3:20 and all service expected to be restored by about 4 p.m.

A bird that got into a substation was blamed for the outage.

Richland city officials said the boundaries of the outage stretched from at least Battelle Boulevard south to Saint Street and from Stevens Drive east to Harris Avenue.

It also affected parts of Hanford north of Richland.

At 2:45 p.m. non-essential Hanford employees were sent home from the site’s 300 Area just north of Richland, the 400 Area with the Fast Flux Test Facility, the Patrol Training Academy and the HAMMER Training Center off Horn Rapids Road, the Cold Test Facility and the Simular Building.

This story was originally published January 10, 2020 at 3:30 PM.