A stretch of Hwy. 20 northwest of Cumming was closed for more than an hour Friday night while utility crews worked to repair fallen lines.

Forsyth County Fire Division Chief Jason Shivers said the exact cause of the incident, which occurred about 8:30 p.m. and disrupted power and cable service in the area, was unknown but seemed to stem from a problem with a transformer.

“We don’t know what caused the original incident,” he said. “There was a homeowner that said he heard a couple of small explosions that sounded like a transformer exploding. What would have caused that, we don’t know.”

Whatever the cause, some power lines came down across Hwy. 20.

Traffic was rerouted between Spot Road Connector, near Sawnee Elementary School, and Doctor Bramblett Road.

Shivers said the live wires caused a brush fire on the west side of the highway, as well as a gas line fire on the east side, which led to some minor gas meter damage at one house.

“The home suffered very little damage and had some heat exposure to the siding … but [the homeowners] didn’t lose any possessions and no one was injured,” he said.

Crews worked about two hours to clear up the damage caused by the downed lines, according to Shivers.

Online Editor Jim Dean contributed to this report.