A transformer explosion at utility substation in Los Angeles on Friday sent a fire ball into the air and knocked out power for thousands of residents and businesses.

The frightening blast just before noon happened in the 2100 block of Pacific Avenue in Burbank, California, local police say.

A small fire was confined to the substation property, and homes in the surrounding area were evacuated as a precaution.

A transformer explosion at utility substation outside Los Angeles on Friday knocked out power for thousands of residents and businesses and caused a fire

The substation is pictured as a fire breaks out at the facility, but is contained to the site

The explosion just before noon happened in the 2100 block of Pacific Avenue in Burbank, California, local police say

Burbank is about 12 miles outside of L.A. No injuries or other damage was reported, and the cause of the explosion was not immediately known.

The city experienced a power surge and brief outage around the time the explosion happened, says police Sgt. Derek Green, the Los Angeles Times reports.

It was unclear whether the explosion preceded the surge.

A request for more information from the Burbank Department of Water and Power was not immediately answered.

Video taken by several people and posted online shows the explosion sent a large plume of black smoke into the air.

The smoke also appears green in some of the footage.

Smoke from the explosion appeared green in footage (pictured) taken by witnesses

Twitter user @RobyDiamond_tv posted footage taken by his his roommate, just as the explosion was starting.

'My roommate got the craziest video of the power plant in Burbank,' he wrote in the post.