Downed power line traps 75-100 people on Portland light rail for hours

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Portland Fire and Rescue said Pacific Power had cleared the high voltage power line and the train was evacuated by 10 p.m. PST, CBS affiliate KOIN reports. No injuries were reported.

Portland Fire & Rescue tweeted at about 9:15 p.m. that they were working on the light rail line near Interstate 84 and Interstate 205. 

Portland General Electric reported Friday night that the number of customers without power had increased to about 16,000, mostly in Multnomah County.

Ice-coated tree limbs and power lines came on the second day of a storm that brought snow and then freezing rain to the area. The National Weather Service described the weather Friday night in eastern Portland and the Columbia River Gorge as a major ice storm. 

The ice storm that totally disrupted the Portland metro and large regions of Oregon is slowly ending, but the freezing rain advisory remains in place until 4 a.m. Saturday, CBS affiliate KOIN reports.

That ice is causing problems as it weighs down tree branches and power lines, often leading to down limbs and wires. Portland Fire and Rescue and PGE crews have been all over the city controlling traffic and restoring power to thousands of Portlanders.

The I-205 north and I-84 west ramp from Glisan is closed due to a down high-voltage power line. Due to the danger there, a MAX train with 75-100 people on board is stopped near the Gateway Transit Center.

Portland Fire and Rescue crews and transit police are working to rescue those passengers. According to one passenger who left the train just before 10 p.m., it had been stopped for nearly 4 hours. He said passengers were allowed to leave at their own risk.

Portland Fire and Rescue said a large tree took down 3 power line and poles. No houses or cars are were danger and there are no injuries.

As of 5:30 p.m. PST, about 6,600 PGE customers were without power, most of them in Multnomah County.

Pacific Power also reported large-scale outages. As of 8:45 p.m. about 2,500 customers were without power, but that number is down from nearly 5,500 earlier in the day.

On Thursday, PGE restored power to about 22,000 people who lost power during the storm.