An electric cable failure in the Ames downtown business district caused an underground fire that resulted in a blackout Monday evening.

Power was not expected to be restored until 2 or 3 a.m. for some areas, said Dean Jordison, substation foreman for the City of Ames electric service.

“We have a little over half a block of burned-up cable,” Jordison said. “We’ll take a look at the old cable to determine the fault.”

The Ames Fire Department responded to the call at 7:35 p.m. after receiving reports of flames coming from a manhole outside of 114 Fifth St.

“There were flames coming out of the manhole,” said Nikala Kupka, bartender at Tradewinds Lounge, 115 Fifth St. “Lights flickered in here and all the TVs went blank.

“I heard a big crash, and then I saw sparks.”

Kupka, sophomore in apparel merchandising, design and production said at one point the flames reached five feet high.

Ames resident Jim Wood said he was having a drink at the bar after work when he saw the flames.

“I came out of the bar and the top of the manhole blew up — just disintegrated,” Wood said.

Kraig Gregory, 1803 Roosevelt Ave., said he was contacted by Ames Police about the situation in front of a vacant building he and others have planned to remodel as a church, at 114 Fifth St.

“It’s a church, or it’s going to be,” Gregory said.

“Thank God it was raining — if it wasn’t, imagine what it could’ve done.”

City officials and Ames firefighters were already at the scene and sparks and fire were no longer coming from the manhole when smoke began to emerge from under another manhole at the corner of Fifth Street and Douglas Avenue.

Ames Police Officer Harry Samms described a “fireball” coming out of that manhole.

There was quite a bit of smoke and fire, which caused the city to shut off the power, Jordison said. Power was out for about six to eight square blocks, he said.

The damaged section of wiring will be removed, and city officials planned to work to restore power.

“We will be able to turn almost [everybody’s power] back on,” Jordison said.

The cause was unknown Monday night, but “water always plays a factor in underground cables,” Jordison said. By 9:35 p.m., the sparks and smoke had subsided and city officials were able to go underground to examine the problem more closely.