Manhole Explosion at Texas Tech University Causes Fires, Outages and Cancels Classes

A Department of Public Safety trooper walks into Flores Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, US, September 6, 2022. REUTERS/Nuri Vallbona
A Department of Public Safety trooper walks into Flores Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, US, September 6, 2022. REUTERS/Nuri Vallbona
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Manhole Explosion at Texas Tech University Causes Fires, Outages and Cancels Classes

A Department of Public Safety trooper walks into Flores Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, US, September 6, 2022. REUTERS/Nuri Vallbona
A Department of Public Safety trooper walks into Flores Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, US, September 6, 2022. REUTERS/Nuri Vallbona

An explosion on the Texas Tech University campus in Lubbock set off fires and power outages Wednesday, leading school officials to issue evacuation orders for several buildings and cancel classes for the rest of the week.
An alert sent to the campus community around 8:45 p.m. described the explosion as occurring at a substation but a later update said it was at a manhole. No injuries were reported, Lubbock Fire Rescue Capt. Jon Tunnell said, according to The Associated Press.
Videos circulating on social media and local TV stations showed a heavy presence of firefighters on campus and fire and smoke coming out of at least one manhole cover.
It wasn’t clear what might have caused the explosion.
Power will be shut down to the entire campus in Lubbock, Texas, while repairs are underway, said Caitlynn Jeffries, a spokesperson for the university's police department.
“You can go ahead and go home for Spring break. We are closing school down for the next couple days," Jeffries said.
The school also instructed faculty and staff to work remotely if possible until further notice.
Lubbock Fire Rescue responded to a possible gas leak around 7 p.m. local time and found “multiple manhole covers with smoke and fire issuing from them,” Tunnell said.
“This remains a very active scene as crews continue to assist Texas Tech University in mitigating this emergency," he said.
There are more than 40,000 students at Texas Tech and the school sits on 1,800 acres in West Texas.



Firefighters Battle a Wildfire Burning Out of Control on the Greek Island of Chios

A firefighting helicopter during firefighting operations on Chios Island, Greece, 24 June 2025. EPA/KOSTAS KOURGIAS
A firefighting helicopter during firefighting operations on Chios Island, Greece, 24 June 2025. EPA/KOSTAS KOURGIAS
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Firefighters Battle a Wildfire Burning Out of Control on the Greek Island of Chios

A firefighting helicopter during firefighting operations on Chios Island, Greece, 24 June 2025. EPA/KOSTAS KOURGIAS
A firefighting helicopter during firefighting operations on Chios Island, Greece, 24 June 2025. EPA/KOSTAS KOURGIAS

Hundreds of firefighters backed up by aircraft were battling a wildfire burning out of control for the third day on the eastern Aegean island of Chios Tuesday, with authorities issuing multiple evacuation orders.

Towering walls of flames tore through forest and agricultural land on the island, where authorities have declared a state of emergency and have sent firefighting reinforcements from Athens, the northern city of Thessaloniki and the nearby island of Lesbos, said the Associated Press.

By Tuesday morning, the fire department said 444 firefighters with 85 vehicles were tackling the blaze on scattered fronts. Eleven helicopters and two water-dropping planes were providing air support.

Emergency services have issued evacuation orders for villages and settlements in the area since Sunday, when fires broke out near the island’s main town. The fire department has sent an arson investigation team to Chios to examine the cause of the blaze.

“We are faced with simultaneous fires in multiple, geographically unconnected parts of the island — a pattern that cannot be considered coincidental,” Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Giannis Kefalogiannis said Monday from Chios. Authorities, he said, were “very seriously examining the possibility of an organized criminal act, in other words arson.”

The minister said police forces on the island had been reinforced, while military patrols had been doubled.

“Whoever thinks that they can play with the lives of citizens and cause chaos with premeditated actions will be led to court,” Kefalogiannis said. “Arson is a serious crime and will be dealt with as such.”

Wildfires are frequent in Greece during its hot, dry summers. In 2018, a massive fire swept through the seaside town of Mati, east of Athens, trapping people in their homes and on roads as they tried to flee. More than 100 died, including some who drowned trying to swim away from the flames.