Electrical fire causes multiple power outages in Fort Myers

According to the Fort Myers Police Department, an electrical fire left apartment complexes, stores and over 1,000 people in downtown Fort Myers without power.

Florida Power & Light’s power outage map estimated about 1,500 people in the area were without power.

The fire occurred around 8 p.m. late Saturday evening.

Authorities said the fire was due to a transformer failure.

Alex Tatko is the owner of Coastal Dayz Brewery and he said the news of the power outages brought back memories of a former storm that knocked out power in the same area.

“Immediately we get reminded of Hurricane Ian days, where this side of McGregor that we’re on has no power, and then the other side has power,” said Tatko. “So we’re kind of like split so like, Publix west end here has no power, but the mini mart right across the street has power.

Tatko said that the outages also affected the number of people who stayed at the brewery.

“And so by the time I got here, I was told that we had a lot of customers that just left because
no one wants to be here when there’s no power,” said Tatko. “We did what we can, you know, open up the doors and everything, but we lost a lot of business from it right off the bat.”

According to authorities, the majority of the power in the area has been restored.