West Seattle Blog… | UPDATE: Nearly 5,000 people affected by power outage in West Seattle; Look at the location of the tree problem that is to blame

8:14 p.m.: Thanks for all the tips. Seattle City LightThe outage map confirms an outage affecting nearly 5,000 customers primarily in northwest West Seattle. The 911 call report shows a “transformer fire” in the 4100 block of Beach Drive SW.

8:21 p.m.: Emergency radio traffic indicates the problem is at a “private dead end” and that City Light has a team on the way.

8:33 p.m.: To recap some important information about outages: First, the “estimated recovery time” is only an estimate and could be much earlier or much later. In the latter case, do not open the refrigerator or freezer – your food will last longer.

8:51 p.m.: For many, if not all, the power is back on. (The City Light map hasn’t caught up yet, so we won’t know for a while if it’s fully resolved.)

8:55 p.m.: According to the first map update, there are only 3,100 left.

9:39 p.m.: Above you can see the current map of who is out for illustrative purposes. And below: WSB employees Christopher Boffoli‘s photos of the tree problem to blame – it’s near Aikins/Boyd in South Alki:

10:10 p.m.: Christopher spoke with City Light staff at the scene, who told him that those still out may stay out until Friday due to a complicated repair involving three poles and access to the steep terrain is difficult. In the meantime, we just took photos of the Aikins side of the fallen tree (thanks, Evie!) – the first photo shows a crushed car (no one was hurt):

10:45 p.m.: According to commentators, more people have just taken power back. Now there are 1,749 according to the SCL map.