Brush fire prompts evacuation of St. Cloud school

ST. CLOUD, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - St. Cloud Elementary School was evacuated on Thursday afternoon, as a 36-acre brush fire just ignited outside the building and sent smoke rushing towards the school.  Fortunately, the school wasn't damaged and no students were injured.

St. Cloud firefighters and Osceola County Fire Rescue hosed down the area and brought in tractors to quickly contain the fire, which sparked when a power pole snapped.

"We got multiple 911 calls about a line down, which immediately arced and started a flame," said Anthony Miller with the St. Cloud Police Department.

Residents in the Lorraine Estates neighborhood were left without power for hours as utility crews worked to repair the downed power lines.

Crews were expected to monitor the brush fire in the overnight hours.