Seattle City Light CEO addresses destruction caused by fallen power lines

SEATTLE - The CEO of Seattle City Light says the company will do everything it can to find out what caused more than two dozen power line poles to collapse onto East Marginal Way during Friday rush hour, and make sure an incident like this does not happen again.

Officials say a total of 26 poles crashed to the ground on Friday around 4pm during rush hour. One of the poles landed on an occupied car, injuring two people inside.

On Saturday, East Marginal Way had been cleared of the fallen power lines, but the more than a mile of damage is still left behind.

“At this point we really don’t know what caused it,” said Debra Smith the CEO of Seattle City Light.

Smith says crews worked through the night to fix the issue.

“We are in emergency response mode, which means are folks are working 13-hour days,” she said.

Smith said the poles were inspected in 2016.

Smith says Seattle City Light is committed to finding out what caused this incident to happen.

“We will be transparent as we learn things and we will do our best to make sure nothing like this happens again,” said Smith. “I’m thankful the folks that were in the car appear to be OK, and yet I also know it’s super traumatic and there is nothing I can say that takes away from that. Even for people there watching it. It must have been really scary,” she added.

Smith says as the investigation continues, they have not officially ruled any causes out for this incident

Crews expect to get surveillance video of the scene this Monday. They hope it will provide more answers.