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Explosion causes Soap Lake, Ephrata outage

by Staff report
| October 25, 2023 5:25 PM

EPHRATA — An explosion and fire at a Soap Lake substation cut electricity in Ephrata, Soap Lake and parts of Quincy early Wednesday afternoon. 

The explosion and fire in Soap Lake occurred about 2 p.m. Wednesday and cut power to Soap Lake, Ephrata, Winchester and a substation east of Quincy, according to a PUD social media post. Christine Pratt, public information officer for the PUD, said Wednesday afternoon that PUD officials don’t know if the Soap Lake fire was weather-related or caused by something else.

Utility district staff will conduct what Pratt called a “root cause analysis,” a detailed look at the events that led up to it.

“To figure out what went wrong,” Pratt said.

Power was restored to all customers in Quincy and Ephrata by 3 p.m., according to the PUD post. Electrical service was restored in Soap Lake by about 5:30 p.m.