TOMAHAWK, Wis. – The dramatic moment a lightning bolt hit a tree in a Wisconsin backyard, sending bits flying and starting a fire, was caught on camera Tuesday.
The tree sat on the edge of an otherwise peaceful lake in Tomahawk, until a lightning bolt hit the tree out of nowhere with a big crack.
An explosion of orange flames and pieces of the tree’s bark, limbs and leaves went flying after the lightning made contact.
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Lightning strikes a tree in Wisconsin.
(Mike Smith via Storyful / FOX Weather)
The sound of the lightning echoed off the lake as the tree settled back down, and smoke arose from around the tree.
A few minutes after the lightning struck, flames crept up the trunk of the tree.
Tree limbs and debris went flying after the lightning hit.
(Mike Smith via Storyful / FOX Weather)
Mike Smith, whose property the tree is on, said he was not there at the time and received a text from a neighbor saying his tree was on fire.
Some more time passed, before the video showed neighbors filling up buckets of lake water at the dock and carrying them to the burning tree.
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A fire started at the base of the tree after the lightning strike.
(Mike Smith via Storyful / FOX Weather)
The buckets of water helped extinguish the flames at the base of the tree.
The fire department was called to extinguish a fire that was farther up the tree, Smith said.
Neighbors splash lake water onto the burning tree trunk.
(Mike Smith via Storyful / FOX Weather)
“We had a freak bolt of lightning destroy one of our pine trees,” Smith wrote on Facebook. “Thanks to our great neighbors for putting out the fire and helping me with communication with emergency services. Sad for our tree…”
In 2024, nearly 7,000 wildfires were caused by lightning strikes in the U.S., according to National Interagency Fire Center data.
