Tens of thousands of homes in Berlin remain without electricity until Thursday after a suspected arson attack damaged high-voltage cables. The fire broke out early Saturday on cables on a bridge near a power plant. Firefighters put out the blaze quickly, but about 45,500 homes and 2,200 businesses lost power. Authorities say repairs will take a long time. Berlin's Senator for Economic Affairs, Franziska Giffey, said, "We are dealing with a particularly serious power outage affecting tens of thousands of households and businesses, including care facilities, hospitals, numerous social institutions and companies." The cold weather and snow make the situation worse. Some homes are also without heating because the local district heating system depends on electricity. Police are investigating the fire as arson. About 160 officers are on site, warning residents to stay with friends if possible, and conserve phone use. Local train stations lost electronic signs and ticket machines, but trains are still running. This outage is worse than a similar event in September, also blamed on arson. Germany is on high alert for sabotage threats to infrastructure, including possible attacks linked to Russia.