The City of Athens came within 10 megawatts of setting an all-time record for electricity use Thursday night , said Athens Electric Department Manager Gary Scoggins.

With the temperature in the teens producing a single-digit wind chill, Athens recorded an output of 246 megawatts at 4 a.m., which is just short of the 256 megawatts produced in 2004, when the temperature dipped to 14 degrees, Scoggins said.

Athens recorded several small outages throughout the county early Friday with more outages expected by morning today. Scroggins said the worst outage Friday morning was on the east side of town in Canebrake, where several households lost power for about two hours.

The severe cold has also been blamed for a kerosene heater “flashback” at mid-morning near Ardmore. One person was injured and taken to the hospital.

“They were filling the heater with kerosene and it sparked and ignited,” said a spokesman at the E-911 Center, where the call came in Friday. “She had burns on her hands and head.”

The fire was reported at a home off Mooresville Road near Davis Avenue.

Athens-Limestone Hospital Ambulance Service Director Mike West identified the injured woman as Alexandria McNeely, 35. West said ambulance personnel picked her up at 28638 Mooresville Road, but he is not sure if that is her address.

“She was brought to Athens-Limestone Hospital emergency room and then flown by MedFlight to UAB,” said West.

He said she was listed in stable condition.

“But all patients with burns to the facial area go to UAB because of the chance of burns to the lungs,” said West.

The cold should ease up a little today with the high expected near 50 after a morning low of about 23.

The record low of 16 for this date occurred in 1927, said National Weather Service officials in Huntsville.