FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ Firefighters battled a fierce blaze in downtown Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday night while police diverted traffic and evacuated a nearby apartment complex.
The blaze began shortly after 8 p.m. when a Florida Power and Light substation on Northeast Sixth Avenue downtown was hit by lightning, a police spokeswoman said.
Thousands of residents throughout Fort Lauderdale were sitting in the dark Tuesday night after losing power around 8:05 p.m.
Fort Lauderdale Police Detective Tracy Figone said the Regal Trace apartment complex was evacuated in an abundance of caution. To protect drivers, officers also closed roads near the blaze.
"We're diverting traffic away from the fire," Figone said.
The fire knocked out street lights and traffic signals along busy roadways, including Broward and Sunrise boulevards.
It also reportedly forced the closing of the Broward Center for the Performing Arts on Tuesday night.
"It went completely dark just after 8 p.m.," tweeted one woman there for a show.
Several people took to Twitter and Instagram, posting photos and videos of the flames and billowing black smoke that was visible for miles.
Florida Power & Light reported that more than 20,000 customers had lost power Tuesday night in Fort Lauderdale. It was unclear whether the blaze caused all of the outages.
FPL officials expected power to be back on later Tuesday night.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue spokesman Stephen Gollan could not immediately be reached for comment.
But several media outlets reported that crews had the fire under control.
Shawn Williams told WSVN-TV he heard four explosions right before the fire broke out.
"(It was) so scary and the explosions were so loud," he said. "It was unbelievable."
