TACOMA — The University of Washington’s Tacoma campus is suspending in-person operations for a week after a fatal car crash severely damaged the school’s electrical system on Saturday.
One person died after the car crashed shortly before 6 a.m., the Tacoma Fire Department wrote on X. A photo shared by the department showed a crushed car in the corner of the school’s Cragle parking lot along South 21st Street. The department did not identify the person who was killed or how many people were inside the car.
The crash caused a power outage affecting nearly the entire campus and led UW Tacoma officials to suspend in-person operations until July 13, with classes continuing remotely “where possible,” according to the school’s website.
Officials did not have an estimate as to when the power will be restored.
A message on the school’s website urged anyone but “essential personnel” to stay away from the campus during this week’s heat wave, as the school’s heating, ventilation and cooling systems are also down. The Puget Sound region is currently under a heat advisory through Tuesday evening, with National Weather Service forecasters predicting highs in the 90s, including 96 in Tacoma, until then.
