Power outage in Pierce County blamed on weather

PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. — There was a large power outage in Pierce County on Friday, and about 7,500 customers were in the dark. 


The outage centered around Fife and Puyallup, where 6,500 customers were without power. 


Tacoma Power said that due to a recent run of dry weather, dirt collected on a power pole and its insulator. The dirt turned into a conductor, and the pole and insulator became hot, causing a fire on the transmission pole. The pole is now down.

KIRO