Global flight turmoil as fire cuts power to Heathrow

LONDON — Britain's Heathrow Airport was shut on Friday after a huge fire at a nearby electrical substation knocked out its power, disrupting flight schedules around the world.

Around 70 firefighters were tackling the blaze in the west of London, which also knocked out the area's backup power system, leading to a mass outage at Heathrow — Europe's busiest and the world's fifth-busiest airport.

The fire brigade said the cause of the fire was not known, but that 25,000 liters of cooling oil in the transformer had caught fire. It had brought the blaze under control by the early morning. Energy Minister Ed Miliband said it did not appear to be foul play.