I hesitated to post this news last Tuesday when it occurred, but I was reminded this morning when I saw a power truck out working on the lines at the base of the Aurora bridge:
We didn’t lose power here at the office, three blocks away, but a lot of homes and restaurants did. Distressingly, this guy dry jumped straight onto the lines paralleling 34th, which is the main east-west thoroughfare in the neighborhood. I seriously hope no one was walking or biking below.
I hate the Aurora bridge. I wish they’d stop bullshitting about defacing a (damn ugly) “historical landmark” and put up some fencing. Is the bridge’s age seriously worth more than the lives of all the people who kill themselves there every year?
Posted on April 16, 2007 @ 10:31 AM | 1 comments
A handful of homes in the Fremont Area are without power for a tragic reason: A man jumped from the Aurora Bridge late Tuesday morning and landed on power lines below.
The impact of the man's body caused a nearby transformer to explode, making a noise several people nearby thought sounded like bullets being discharged.
"We got several calls about gunfire, but that's what it actually was," said Renee Witt, a spokeswoman for the Seattle Police Department.
Officers were dispatched to North 34st Street and Troll Avenue North at 11:22 a.m.
Investigators from the Medical Examiner's Office were on the scene a half-hour later, and Witt said the man's death appeared to be a suicide.
Seattle City Light spokesman Scott Thomson said a power crew was on their way to the scene but it wasn't immediately clear how many homes the damaged lines served.
We didn’t lose power here at the office, three blocks away, but a lot of homes and restaurants did. Distressingly, this guy dry jumped straight onto the lines paralleling 34th, which is the main east-west thoroughfare in the neighborhood. I seriously hope no one was walking or biking below.
I hate the Aurora bridge. I wish they’d stop bullshitting about defacing a (damn ugly) “historical landmark” and put up some fencing. Is the bridge’s age seriously worth more than the lives of all the people who kill themselves there every year?
Posted on April 16, 2007 @ 10:31 AM | 1 comments
Comments:
Ew. :(
Surely a fancy developer could design a fancy and periodic "restraint device" to match the bridges's historical pretty in order to keep people from jumping.
When I stayed at your place and walked around underneath the bridge, it gave me the creeps just thinking about how often people jump from it. And I don't have to walk by it every day. :(
By 
Rachel, at
10:36 PM, April 16, 2007
