Only about a dozen homes remained without power this morning after a large section of East Providence was plunged into darkness last evening because of the explosion of several transformers.

Power was out north of Route 195 and west of Broadway over to the Providence River and north to just beyond Waterman Avenue, according to the National Grid power outage map for Rhode Island.

Power has been restored to just about all of that area after approximately 1,950 customers were affected last night, according to National Grid.

The explosions occurred at approximately 7:20 pm. East Providence Fire Capt. Oscar Elmasian confirmed that at least one transformer exploded.

Two large blue-tinged flashes that appeared at first to be heat lightning lit the sky before the lights went out in that part of the city. Fireworks-like sparks flashed through the sky from a transformer in the vicinity of St. Francis Church right before the lights went out.

That entire block and the area around it went dark in seconds. The only light in the area came from emergency lighting at Weaver Library, City Hall and the Post Office across the street.

Traffic in that part of the city was moving slowly on all the streets without lights to guide vehicles at intersections.