Thousands without power in Leesburg after lightning strikes transmission system
Much of the city of Leesburg is in the dark after a fire at a power station there Tuesday afternoon.
>>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<<
According to Leesburg Fire Rescue, the east power substation on U.S. 441 suffered fire damage causing an outage through much of the city.
It happened around 7:30 p.m. when lightning struck Duke Florida’s transmission system, which feeds a majority of Leesburg power and forced it to go offline.
About 12,600 Leesburg customers are without power, city officials said.
READ: Family of 5 found dead in apparent murder-suicide, Orlando police say
Parts of Fruitland park are also affected by the outage.
It’s still unknown how long the outage is expected to last.
READ: Arrest made in deadly Casselberry hit-and-run crash that killed man walking his dog
Crews from the Leesburg Electric Department are expected to be on scene throughout the night working to repair the damage.
Extra Leesburg police officers have also been called in to help work intersections where traffic signals are inoperable.
READ: Osceola County charter school won’t reopen after judge terminates contract
Leesburg Fire Rescue has not commented on what may have started the fire.
Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
