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Fire knocks out power to 22,000 people in South Florida

Authorities in South Florida say a fire at a power utility substation left thousands of people without power in Broward County.
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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Authorities in South Florida say a fire at a power utility substation left thousands of people without power in Broward County.

News outlets report an explosion at a Florida Power & Light substation in Fort Lauderdale late Tuesday interrupted service and forced the temporary evacuation of a nearby arts center.

Fort Lauderdale police say they received a call about the fire at about 8 p.m. FPL says about 22,000 customers were without power around 10 p.m., dropping to about 14,000 an hour later.

The utility's outage tracker showed that up to about 33,700 customers were affected. FPL says it's investigating the cause of the fire, which was brought under control with no reported injuries.

WTVJ reported the fire started after a lightning strike.