400 Spokane households remain out of power, cause under investigation

Around 7:30 p.m. Friday, more than 8,000 Avista customers lost power, 12 hours before a planned outage in Peaceful Valley to remove risky trees. The affected customers had dropped to 400 by shortly after 10 p.m.

Affected households reached from Peaceful Valley and Browne’s Addition north up to Francis Avenue, all with an estimated restoration time of 10:30 p.m. Friday, Avista posted. The cause was still under investigation as of 8 p.m., the website said.

The outage originally affected about 8,500 customers, but the number had gone down significantly as of about 10 p.m.

From 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, 116 properties in Peaceful Valley were set to have their power shut off as crews remove trees in the area, according to a tweet from the City of Spokane.

Wednesday, roads near the intersection of Clark Avenue and Elm Street closed, too, the city tweeted. The city is concerned about the stability of the hillside and rock wall there, and believe trees are at risk of falling.

A geotechnical engineering team visited the site Thursday, the tweet said.

Properties in Peaceful Valley east of Maple Street reaching to an area parallel with the Broadmoor were set to be affected by the planned outage, according to the tweet.