About 12,000 customers lost electricity Saturday in University Place, Fircrest and Tacoma after a utility pole caught on fire.
The outage started at 10:15 a.m. and was over at 12:15 p.m., said Nora Doyle, spokeswoman for Tacoma Public Utilities.
The fire on the Tacoma Power pole at North Mildred Street and Sixth Avenue was out quickly.
Doyle said the fire was caused by a buildup of dirt and dust on the pole from dry weather that turned to mud with moisture Saturday. The mud acted as a conductor, setting the pole on fire and causing the outage. The fire caused the pole to snap.
Customers regained power at various stages during the outage.
The Tacoma Fire Department received a call about 10:15 a.m. about the fire, KIRO-TV reported. When crews arrived, the fire was out. No one was injured.
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