Homeowners in a large swath of Bonney Lake and Sumner suffering from a power blackout Friday, found out the hard way that a backup generator is only as good as its fuel supply.
The only service station operating in that area Thursday and Friday twice ran out of gas as customers queued up 20-deep for a turn at the pumps.
“My most common purchase the last two days has been five gallons of gas for $18,” said Kyong Hwangpo, owner of the Bonney Lake Chevron station. “That’s how big most of the gas cans were to fuel generators.”
Hwangpo’s station at 21406 Highway 410 was the only service station open for miles Thursday and for most of Friday.
Other stations went dark when power failed in the area. Hwangpo said his purchase of a large generator five years ago allowed him to keep his station open.
The demand was so brisk, he said, that he ran out of gas Thursday and again at noon Friday.
“I had one guy wait for an hour to buy two gallons of gas for his chain saw,” he said.
On several occasions heated arguments broke out among customers waiting their turn at the pumps if one thought the other had cut in line.
Hwangpo said soon after he exhausted his supply Friday, the Safeway across the street was able to open its pumps. The crowd that had been waiting moved there to resume their vigil at the pumps.
Shortages extend to Thurston county
Thurston County-area gasoline stations without power resulted in a surge in business for those that did, including at Hulbert Shell in Olympia at Union Avenue and Plum Street, owner Steve Hulbert said Friday.
The demand for fuel was so overwhelming at his business that he sold three days’ worth of gasoline in four hours, he said. A line of cars snaked through the parking lot and Hulbert was on scene to direct traffic, allowing two cars at a time to fuel up to try and keep things orderly, he said.
He ran out of unleaded gasoline Friday and was down to a couple thousand gallons of diesel and 1,500 gallons of premium. Hulbert said he was expecting a shipment of fuel possibly as early as 6 p.m. Friday or today.
Rolf Boone, staff writer
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