WINNIPEG — Lightning strikes on Wednesday evening are being blamed for sparking two house fires in the city.
The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service responded to two separate fires just after 6 p.m. in the Valley Gardens and Windsor Park areas.
Crews first arrived to find smoke coming from a single-family bungalow on Colley Crescent.
Everybody inside was able to self-evacuate and no injuries were reported.
The fire is believed to be caused by a lightning strike on the roof of the house. No damage estimates are available.
A few minutes later, firefighters responded to a fire in a single-family bungalow on Brebeuf Road.
Crews found flames coming from the exterior of the home and quickly extinguished them before the fire could spread to the interior.
No injuries were reported and the occupants and their pets made it out safely.
It’s believed the fire was caused when a tree felled by a lightning strike hit the house.
Between 2015-2021, the WFPS responded to 11 fires which were caused by lightning.
The city of Winnipeg and surrounding areas were under a tornado watch late Wednesday afternoon, which was later downgraded to a thunderstorm watch before transitioning into a thunderstorm warning. The short-lived weather system moved across Winnipeg during the dinner hour before travelling east out of the province.
