Firefighters battled a fierce blaze 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 at 462 NE Sixth Ave. in downtown Fort Lauderdale 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 Tuesday night.
“It went completely dark just after 8 p.m.,” tweeted one woman there for the opening night of the musical “Dear Evan Hansen.”
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.
By 10:30 p.m., traffic lights were clicking back on and power had reportedly been restored to all but about 1,000 homes.
Several media outlets reported early on that crews had the fire under control.
Shawn Williams told WSVN-Ch. 7 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.”
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4554. Find her on Twitter @Susannah_Bryan.