CBC news is reporting this power outage today with no explanation of cause of fire. Are fires in power substations, severe enough to take down a large city's electricity, an understandable situation?

-- I am (wondering@home.com), February 20, 1999

Answers

This isn't all that detailed, but I posted it yesterday.

UPI Spotlight) Protests due to lack of electricity BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, Feb. 19 (UPI) - Some 1,000 residents of Buenos Aires took to the street (Friday) protesting a fifth day of a power outage officials say is affecting some 55,000 people. On Monday, a fire severed wires in a substation of Edesur, an electrical company, affecting some 500,000 people in seven of the city's neighborhoods, just in time for a heat wave during the Southern Hemisphere's summer.

Copyright 1999 by United Press International

-- Deborah (alliknow@about.it), February 20, 1999.

Yes, I know what caused the fire. Combustible material reched an appropriately high enough temperature in the presence of oxygen and ignition occurred.

-- Paul Milne (fedinfo@halifax.com), February 20, 1999.

You are serious again.

-- fly .:. (.@...), February 21, 1999.

Just filling a bucket with oily rags and letting them sit has been known to cause a fire. History tells us there have been many fires, almost none of them caused by Y2K (yet).

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), February 21, 1999.

"Just in time for a heat wave during the Southern Hemisphere's summer. "

I hadn't realized that before, anfd it could be very important. In north america, summer is the peak demand period for electricity. If southern hemisphere utilities have failures at rollover, it could further compound their problems.

OK, brainstorm everyone:

What if Y2K struck the US in mid July? What would be different?

-- Lewis (aslanshow@yahoo.com), February 21, 1999.

Thanks, Paul and Tom. So relieved to hear it wasn't an electrical fire nor one caused by an embedded sytem being tested. :)

-- I am (wondering@home.com), February 21, 1999.