Lightning Strikes Spark Fires In Owasso, Skiatook, And Owasso Fires

At least two large fires broke out early Wednesday morning after storms passed through the area through the night.

One of the fires broke out in an Owasso home. Firefighters said the lightning caused the fire to start on the roof and spread to the rest of the home.

Firefighters rushed to battle flames all across Green Country after a wave of storms late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning.

Around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, a fire broke at Superior Auto Salvage on East Archer. Tulsa fire said lightning struck cars on the lot and caused 70 to 80 cars to burn.

8/19/2015 Related Story: Lightning May Have Started Large Fire At Tulsa Auto Salvage Yard

Before that, around 4:30 a.m., Owasso firefighters responded to a home on North 138th Avenue. Neighbor Rebecca Carter said she and others felt the lightning hit.

8/19/2015 Related Story: Lightning Starts Fire, Destroys Owasso Home

“Well it just felt like the whole house was shaking, I even looked in the backyard to see if the tree had gotten hit by lightning or something," she said.

Carter and her family live just down the street from the home that was hit and said the storms kept her family up half the night.

The National Weather Service said many of the bolts from the storms carried a positive charge, making them brighter and more powerful.

Carter said, "My husband started getting up and unplugging our computers or anything that was plugged up, and, but like laptops that were on the table or something, they weren't plugged up, but they were coming on. It was just like shaking the whole house, so it was just really scary."

Especially scary, since neighbors said it’s not the first time this has happened. Over the last five years, two other homes have also been hit on the street.

Carter said this is the first fire she's seen since she's lived in the neighborhood, and said, as scary as it was, she's thankful everyone got out.

"I think by the grace of God that nobody got hurt, you know, that the people really did, that they were safe," she said.

NOAA said lightning strikes the U.S. about 25 million times a year - most of those strikes happen in the summer.

 7/19/2015 Related Story: Lightning Strike Sparks Skiatook House Fire