Fire at Electric Substation Leaves 13,000 Without Power in Madison, Wisconsin, During Heat Wave

More than 13,000 customers are without electricity in Madison, Wisconsin, during a dangerous heat wave, after a fire at a downtown substation, a utility spokesman says. The fire was out Friday morning, said Madison Gas and Electric spokesman Steve Schultz. But the utility does not have an “estimated time of restoration.” The outage affects residents from the west side of downtown’s Capitol Square to areas around the Yahara River, he said. “Crews are working as quickly as possible to safely restore service,” Schultz said.

The power outage comes as a potentially deadly heat wave hovers over the Midwest, prompting cities throughout the region to warn residents to stay hydrated and cool. Madison on Friday morning was under an “excessive heat” warning, with high temperatures forecast to reach the mid-90s. The heat index will reach values of 105 to 110, according to the National Weather Service. Schultz said the fire appears to have no correlation to the hot weather but was probably due to a mechanical issue. A second fire was reported near North Park Street, police spokesman Joel DeSpain said. It was unclear whether the second fire was related to the power company.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/fire-at-electric-substation-leaves-13000-without-power-in-madison-wisconsin-during-heat-wave_3008781.html

Strong Quake Hits Near Greek Capital of Athens, Sparks Fear

ATHENS, Greece—A strong earthquake hit on July 19 near the Greek capital of Athens, causing residents to run into the streets in fear and firefighters to check for people trapped in elevators. The Athens Institute of Geodynamics gave the earthquake a preliminary magnitude of 5.1 but the U.S. Geological Survey tagged it as a magnitude of 5.3. The Athens Institute says the quake struck at 2:13 p.m. local time (1113 GMT) some 23 kilometers (14.2 miles) north of Athens.

Authorities inspected areas close to the epicenter by helicopter and police patrols but no deaths or serious injuries were reported. Government spokesman Stelios Petsas said one abandoned building had collapsed in a western district of Athens and that several other abandoned buildings had suffered serious damages in other parts of the city. “There are no reports of serious injuries … I urge members of the public to remains calm, in Greece we are well acquainted with earthquakes,” he said.

The quake caused limited power cuts and communication problems around Athens and the fire brigade reported receiving calls about people being trapped in elevators. The shock was caught live in the studios of state broadcaster ERT. The most powerful quake to hit the Greek capital in the last 20 years came in 1999, when a temblor of magnitude 6.0 caused extensive damage and killed more than 140 people.

Gerasimos Papadopoulos, the senior seismologist at the Geodynamics Institute said Friday’s quake was felt across southern Greece. “It had a very shallow depth and that’s why it was felt so strongly,” he said. “It is too early to say whether this was the main earthquake, but there have been aftershocks of magnitude 3.5, 2.5 and 3.2 and that is encouraging. But we need more time and data to have a clear picture.” Earthquakes are common in Greece and neighboring Turkey.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/strong-quake-hits-near-greek-capital-of-athens-sparks-fear_3008772.html

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