State Of Emergency Declared After 2 Fires Break Out In Downtown Madison

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers declared a state of emergency after fires at two transmission stations in Madison knocked out power to more than
11,000 people.

"Obviously, it's not a great thing to have a power outage coincide with one of the hottest days of the year. So we're encouraging people to really make sure that they are taking care of themselves particularly downtown in buildings that may not have air conditioning right now," Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said.

Those power outages are affecting people in downtown Madison including at the state capitol where they had to close for the day.

An explosion and fire at Madison Gas and Electric's main power center sent flames and thick black smoke into the air around 7:40 a.m. Friday.

Police were called in to help direct traffic downtown because the traffic lights are out.

The company is working on getting the power back on, but aren't sure how soon they can make that happen.