Police investigating a series of vandalism incidents at electrical substations in Washington state that knocked out power for thousands on Christmas Day now say a fourth facility was targeted.
The incidents in the Tacoma area come just weeks after more than 40,000 people lost power in North Carolina when two substations in Moore County were hit with gunfire. A sheriff there described the acts as "intentional vandalism."
"At 7:21 pm, on December 25th, 2022, dispatchers received a call of a fire at the Puget Sound Energy substation at 14320 Kapowsin Hwy E. Deputies, Firefighters and Puget Sound Energy employees responded to the scene," the Pierce County Sheriff's Department said in a statement.
"The fire was extinguished and the substation secured. Power was knocked out for homes in Kapowsin and Graham," the statement continued. "The suspect(s) gained access to the fenced area and vandalized the equipment which caused the fire."
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The sheriff’s office described the fire as "the 4th incident at a Power Substation in South Pierce County on Christmas Day," which ultimately resulted in around 14,000 people losing power.
"We do not have any suspects in custody," it also said. "It is unknown if there are any motives or if this was a coordinated attack on the power systems."
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Earlier, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department said it responded to a call of a burglary at a Tacoma Public Utilities Substation on 46th Avenue around 5:30 a.m. on Christmas morning.
When deputies arrived, they saw evidence that a fenced area was broken into and equipment was vandalized, causing a power outage in the area.
Another burglary was reported later that morning at a Tacoma Public Utilities' substation on 224th Street, again with forced entry and damage to the equipment, and nothing stolen from the scene.
At 11:25 a.m. a third burglary was reported by Puget Sound Energy at another one of their facilities.
Fox News’ Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
