Mistake causes power outage

A contractor’s mistake cut power to much of Spokane Valley and parts of north Spokane for three hours Monday.

Traffic signals went dark and public schools scrambled to prepare lunches in cold kitchens, as 14 schools in the East Valley, Central Valley and Mead districts lost power. East Valley High School students who had transportation were sent home. At least 15,500 homes and businesses were affected.

Inland Power, Vera Water and Power, and Kaiser Trentwood Rolling Mill lost power. All three are Bonneville Power Administration customers and draw power from the same substation, near the defunct Kaiser Aluminum plant in Mead. At 10:07 a.m., a contractor moving power lines dropped a ground wire across three major lines servicing Bonneville customers, said Ed Mosey of the BPA. In Spokane Valley, the outage meant parts of Greenacres, Trentwood, Veradale, Northwood and Bigelow Gulch, an area of several square miles, were without power. Portions of Mead were also without electricity.

The lines were being moved to accommodate construction of a north-south freeway connecting north Spokane to Interstate 90.

So much power pulses through the affected lines that all three had to be disconnected before the ground wire could be removed, Mosey said.

The outage ended at 1 p.m.

With traffic signals dead, police in Spokane Valley directed cars at Sullivan Road and Indiana Avenue, Cpl. Dave Reagan said. There was one emergency call placed by a woman whose oxygen machine had shut down, but medics handled the problem.

The talk at Vera Water and Power, which had 9,000 homes and businesses affected, was about a dentist who lost power during a root canal and couldn’t finish the job, said Gail Gibson, a district secretary.

Students at Meadow Ridge Elementary in the Mead School District kept asking their principal if they were being sent home. Principal Dave Vail said there was enough natural light to keep the lessons going.

“We’ve got plenty of light, and it’s not super cold,” Vail said. “We have lunch coming from other schools.”

About 300 sack lunches were served to students.

“Things are going pretty normal right now. Of course, you can’t use overheads or projectors.”

The school canceled its afternoon kindergarten classes.

In Spokane Valley, several area schools debated whether to send students home for the day or to come up with a plan for the lunch hour.

“We really don’t want to send kids home to empty houses,” said Melanie Rose, Central Valley School District spokeswoman. Central Valley had 10 schools without power.

Staff at Progress Elementary had to quickly come up with an alternative for the Teriyaki beef sandwiches on a bun and French fries that were planned for lunch.

“Where’s the beef? It’s not cooked,” said head cook Melodie Lunden.

Teachers and parent volunteers were called in to help make 170 strawberry or blackberry jam sandwiches, without peanut butter.

“We’ll still be able to serve the celery sticks and milk,” Lunden said.

The plan was to have students eat in their classrooms or in the hallways, because the gym, where lunch is normally held, was without light.

Three East Valley schools were also without power.

Students at East Valley High School who could arrange transportation or drive themselves were sent home, said Judi Christianson, district spokeswoman. “We have so many interior rooms in the high school with no windows,” Christianson said.

The district decided to keep students at East Valley Middle School and Skyview Elementary.

Students were not allowed outside, in order to keep heat in the buildings.

“It should be a typical day, only with cold lunch,” Christianson said.