An electrical storm, which included multiple lightning strikes, caused havoc to La Caņada Flintridge businesses, snarled traffic along Foothill Boulevard and injured at least two people Tuesday morning.

A lightning strike at approximately 8:40 a.m. to a transformer or "power pole behind Sport Chalet caused the wires to drop," said Sgt. James Noennick of the Crescenta Valley Sheriff's Station.

At least one of the wires landed on an employee's car in the Sport Chalet parking lot, causing a vehicle fire and making the automobile a near total loss.

However, two customers at nearby Citizens Business Bank narrowly escaped major injuries and were "both shocked" by a downed powerline, according to Citizens Vice President Sheila Cook.

"Lightning hit the pole here and the wires were popping and spewing sparks," Cook said. "Two of our customers were slightly injured but the paramedics came and examined them both." They declined being taken to a local hospital.

The live wires also started a small grass fire behind Citizens Business Bank, although some automobile drivers continued to maneuver around the wires in the back alley while taking their children to St. George's Preschool. "It was scaring me that people were trying to drive through," Cook said.

"The live wires were on the ground so we couldn't do much until [Southern California] Edison got there and de-energized the lines," said Capt. Adrian Murrieta of local Fire Station 82.

At least four firetrucks and multiple squad cars responded, as well as television news crews from KCAL Channel 9 and Fox 11.

Power was lost to most businesses on the south side of Foothill Boulevard and several traffic lights were not operating. A two-car accident at the intersection of Foothill Boulevard and Oakwood Avenue was attributed to the outage. An ambulance arrived to take one of the crash victims, a female who said she was eight months' pregnant, to the hospital. Her condition and the condition of the fetus are unknown.

The outage impacted 690 residences and businesses stretching from roughly Chevy Chase Drive to Commonwealth Avenue, according to Southern California Edison spokeswoman Christine McLeod.

"Our guys were going from location to location (throughout the Southland) on Tuesday, but this area was the worst," McLeod said. "One of our men said he had never seen such active lightning-strike activity in such a concentrated area. I'm sure it was an inconvenience to our customers, but there's not much we can do when Mother Nature strikes."

Most of the businesses along the south side of Foothill Boulevard had power restored within two hours. However, Citizens Business Bank's power did not return until 4 p.m., Cook said, forcing her business to remain closed for the day.

Sport Chalet was perhaps the company most greatly impacted. The lightning strike knocked out power to the local main store (1020 Foothill Blvd.) until 6:20 p.m., Sport Chalet CEO Craig Levra said, forcing the store to close for virtually the entire day.

More important, however, is that pthe power outage impacted Sport Chalet's annual stockholders' meeting. "It's typically our most important meeting of the year," Levra said of the event, which was being held at the company's corporate headquarters north of Taylor's Steak House. "We heard the lightning bolt hit, and the lights went out. But our team scrambled around pretty good and brought in flashlights."

Levra said a detailed slide show and PowerPoint presentation were canceled. "It was an unusual day," he said.

"I have lived in this community since 1971 and I can't remember anything quite like this," said Pat Anderson, executive director of the La Caņada Flintridge Chamber of Commerce and Community Association. "It's quite unusual."