A portion of Oak Street was closed for more than an hour as City of Niles utilities crews replaced an electrical line that shorted out around noon Wednesday.

Max Cole, who lives at 16 S. 14th St. near the electrical line, said he heard a loud pop that he thought was a car accident.

“I came outside and saw a wire hanging to the ground and smoke coming from an electrical post,” said the retired police officer.

Responding City of Niles firefighters quickly closed Oak Street from 13th to 15th streets. The affected wire ran north and south along 14th Street across Oak Street.

Fire Chief Larry Lamb said city utilities crews were on hand within minutes to shut down the power.

“They were here very quickly,” he said.

Firefighters checked homes near the downed power line for any sign of a possible fire, but found none. Many people could be seen outside their homes watching as crews worked to replace the line.

Lamb said the incident caused a power outage localized to about a two-block radius from the site.

The cause of the downed neutral line is unknown at this time.