Crane collapse causes power outage as temps reach mid-90s

Published 5:57 pm Friday, July 23, 2021

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BLAINE — A crane fell over at a construction site in the Minneapolis suburb of Lexington on Friday, causing a power outage for nearly 900 customers in the area as temperatures climbed into the mid-90s. There were no injuries reported

A dispatch supervisor with the Centennial Lakes Police Department said the call came in shortly before 12:30 p.m. The crane fell into power lines and onto the partially-constructed building. Dispatch supervisor Donnelle Lawrence said the building was evacuated.

The collapse also caused a small grass fire, which was quickly extinguished, Lawrence said.

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Small grass fire put out right away.

Xcel Energy reported reported nearly 900 customers in the areas of Blaine, Circle Pines and Lexington were without power after the collapse according to its online outage map. The power company said it expected energy to be restored at about 2:30 p.m.

Temperatures were in the mid-90s on Friday afternoon and the area was under a heat advisory, as forecasters said the combination of heat and humidity made the temperature feel like it was 100 degrees.