Lightning sparks multiple fires across Twin Cities metro

MINNETONKA, Minn. – Saturday morning storms brought heavy rain and lightning to many regions of the state.

In St. Paul, fire officials say lightning is likely the cause of a natural gas fire in the street near Brainerd Avenue and Burr Street around 10:30 a.m. Large flames were seen in the street at fire crews allowed the blaze to burn until Xcel Energy crews arrived and shut off the gas. Nearby homes were evacuated, but officials said there was no damage.

In Minnetonka, firefighters are continuing a busy week of calls.

"We started rolling in with calls for downed trees, power lines wires arching, some flames seen some not people pretty concerned about their neighborhoods," Fire and Life Safety Specialist Sara Ahlquist said.

One of those calls was after lightning struck the chimney of a home Saturday morning, causing minor damage.

"Certainly with the tall trees and we have some bigger homes in the city, we are definitely aware that environment can bring more lightning strikes," Ahlquist said.

While recent storms have produced eye-catching lightning, National Weather Service Meteorologist Eric Ahasic said it's not out of the ordinary.

"We are probably in a lightning deficit this summer just based on the lack of thunderstorms we've had," Ahasic said.

He said drought conditions have little impact on the strength of lightning during storms and it rather depends on the instability in the atmosphere.

"I think we had a combo last week where we had really warm humid air near the surface, colder drier air above that, which led to high instability levels and a pretty good lightning show," Ahasic said.

As severe weather season rumbles on, fire officials urge families to make a safety plan.  

"Our house fires have become increasingly dangerous over the past 20-30 years. We have way more plastics, petroleum-based products, and electronics and those things burn in our homes, at a much faster rate and hotter rate and what that means is that our smoke alarms are more important than ever," Ahlquist said.

When there's lightning, the safest place to be is indoors and away from windows. A car is another option if you can't find shelter. Avoid water and tall structures.