For the second time in a month a fire beneath electrical transmission lines has been blamed for a major power outage on the Yucatán peninsula.

The power went out at 3:35pm yesterday for 1.63 million customers of the National Electricity Commission (CFE) in Yucatán, Quintana Roo and Campeche. The figure represents about 85% of the CFE’s clients on the peninsula.

The utility said the burning of brush between towers on the transmission lines between Ticul, Yucatán, and Escárcega, Campeche, caused the outage.

The CFE said power was restored by 7:00pm, although there were reports until 8:00pm that parts of Cancún were still without electricity.

A similar outage occurred on March 8 when transmission lines were affected by the burning of sugar cane, cutting off electricity to at least 351,000 customers in Yucatán and Quintana Roo.

Source: Animal Político (sp)