In January of 2004 unusual electrical fires spontaneously erupted in Caronia even though the electricity was cut off to the town.  Furniture, appliances and water pipes all caught fire. 

Twelve houses were badly burned after bursting into flames for no reason.  These incidents continued for three weeks.  The fires ended for a time but return again in April 2004 and continued through August. 

Tullio Martella the head of Sicily’s Civil Protection Agency is quoted to have said “The cause of the fires seems to have been static electric charges.  What we don’t understand is why there were these static electric charges.” 

Dozens of engineers and scientists including a one from NASA poured over the scene.  The investigative report estimated the electromagnetic field delivered 15 gigawatts of energy and the anomaly was not caused by humans.

The cause of the anomalies have still not been determined.

REF:  http://wikimapia.org/2476342/Canneto-di-Caronia