The lights flickered in downtown Kelowna, but when a transformer blew on Friday night at 9:30 p.m. near South Rutland, it also coincided with the lights going off for more than 1,000 homes and businesses in the centre of town.
The explosion near Tamarack Dr. sent fire flying into the grass below the power line, setting the grass on fire.
The Kelowna Fire Department doused the area with water after residents also stepped in to help prevent the blaze from spreading.
FortisBC said power was out in an area east of Dilworth Dr., along the Highway 97 cooridor to Highway 33, bordered by Mission Creek on the south.
Crews are investigating the exact cause of the outage and estimate power could be restored by 12:30 a.m. Saturday.
Numerous restaurants, grocery stores and hotels are affected by the outage.