Explosion causes Soap Lake, Ephrata outage
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.