14K In Washington Lose Power On X-Mas In Substation Vandalism: Sheriff

PIERCE COUNTY, WA — Over 14,000 people in Pierce County were left without power on Christmas after four utility substations were vandalized early in the morning, according to the sheriff's office.

At 7:21 pm on Sunday, dispatchers received a call of a fire at the Puget Sound Energy substation on Kapowsin Highway, and deputies, firefighters, and Puget Sound Energy employees responded, the sheriff's office said, adding that the fire was extinguished and the substation secured.

Power was knocked out for homes in Kapowsin and Graham after the suspect or suspects got inside a fenced area and vandalized the equipment, causing the fire, according to the sheriff's office.

Power has been restored to most of the affected homes.

Three other substations were burglarized, including the Tacoma Public Utilities Substation on 46th Avenue, where there was forced entry into the fenced area, and equipment was vandalized, causing a power outage, the sheriff's office said.

Deputies were notified of a second burglary to another TPU substation on 224th Street, in which there was also forced entry with damage to the equipment, according to the sheriff's office.

Puget Sound Energy was broken into and vandalized at about 02:39 am., the sheriff's office said.

Thomas Morisada told Channel 7 that his power was out when he woke up.

Isaiah Williams said the power has been "sporadic," adding that "it was off pretty much when everyone woke up and then it came back around, maybe two hours ago for like literally 10 seconds, and then it went off."

"All law enforcement agencies in the county have been notified of the incidents and will be monitoring power substations in their area," the sheriff's office said in a statement to its Facebook page.

The office said it was aware of similar outages in southern Washington, Oregon, and North Carolina.

Six similar attacks took place across power stations in Oregon and Washington earlier in December, as well as one on a power grid in North Carolina, The Guardian reported.

"We have to investigate and not just jump to conclusions," the sheriff's office said in a post to the comments section of its Facebook page.

“At this time deputies are conducting the initial investigation," the post continued. "We do not have any suspects in custody. It is unknown if there are any motives or if this was a coordinated attack on the power systems."

The FBI’s Seattle Division told CNN that investigators are aware of the attack but would neither confirm or deny the agency's role in an investigation.

“We do take threats against our infrastructure seriously and urge anyone with information to contact law enforcement,” the bureau told CNN.

In November, the bureau warned of threats to electrical infrastructure by people with racially or ethnically motivated extremist ideology “to create civil disorder and inspire further violence,” according to an sent to private industry, CNN reported.

Investigators are asking anyone who sees someone or something suspicious near a power facility is urged to call 911 and report it right away.