"Crews Rush To Restore Power In Blacked-Out Puerto Rico"

"SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Repair crews worked through the night trying to restore electricity to Puerto Rico's 3.5 million people early Thursday after a fire at a power plant blacked out the entire U.S. territory.

Officials said they hoped to restore service by morning, but some schools canceled classes for the day as a precaution. The island's largest public hospital canceled elective surgeries and non-urgent appointments, while government officials and private groups put off dozens of scheduled events.

The Electric Power Authority said investigators were trying to determine what caused the fire that broke out Wednesday afternoon at a power plant in southern Puerto Rico that serves a majority of customers on the island. The fire began at a switch and caused two transmission lines of 230,000 volts each to fail."

Danica Coto reports for the Associated Press September 22, 2016.