LaFAYETTE — For the second time in less than a  year, a good chunk of the city of LaFayette spent the majority of a day without electricity.

According to Mayor Barry Moody, at around 10 a.m. CDT Tuesday, Alabama Power reported a main city line into a substation had blown. The line then dropped to the ground, causing a fire.

The exact cause of the disruption has not been determined as of press time.

“Something created a hot spot and burned through the line,” Moody said, noting that the line was located near the recently opened solar farm.

First responders arrived at the scene to put out the blaze  and within an hour, two crews from Alabama Power arrived to assess the situation.

In response to the outage, police officers and city department workers manned the red lights to kept traffic moving.

“We also went around to the industrial park and local businesses to keep them updated on the situation,” the mayor said.

Chambers County Sheriff Sid Lockhart added that the county courthouse was eventually closed when it became apparent power was not returning anytime soon.

“We couldn’t do anything,” he said.

Power was restored around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

“We’re glad to have power restored,” Mayor Moody said. “We’re proud of our local responders. They stepped up to keep the city safe and informed.”

This is the second time power has been off for the city in recent months.

Back in December, a squirrel on a gain switch caught fire and blew out fuses at a substation.

That time power was also out until late afternoon.