Olympia firefighters capture transformer explosion on video

The Olympia Fire Department responded Monday to reports that a tree caught fire after falling into power lines at Morse-Merryman and Wiggins roads, ultimately causing a small explosion of a power transformer that was captured on video.

The explosion occurred about 10:30 a.m. Monday in southeast Olympia. No one was injured, and the fire was extinguished after crews from Puget Sound Energy cut power to the lines, Assistant Fire Chief Mike Buchanan said.

A water leak from a damaged hydrant is believed to have eroded the ground beneath the tree, causing it to fall, Buchanan said.

Staff from the city’s Public Works Department were repairing the leak.

The video of the explosion was posted on the Fire Department’s Twitter feed at twitter.com/OlyFireDept.

This story was originally published April 17, 2017 at 3:17 PM with the headline "Olympia firefighters capture transformer explosion on video."