Three Charlotte homes hit by lightning in one hour, fire department says

A volatile storm that crossed Charlotte early Tuesday left three homes in flames and investigators say each was struck by lightning.

The fires were reported between 12:08 a.m. and 12:51 p.m. on Tremaine Court, Sugar Hollow Drive and Abendego Road, fire officials said. Maps show the homes are miles apart, on opposite sides of the city.

“Three lightning strikes. Three house fires. One severe storm. One busy night,” the Charlotte Fire Department wrote in a Facebook post. “No injuries were reported at any of the three fires.”

The average lightning flash carries about 300 million volts, and “heats the surrounding air anywhere from 18,000 degrees Fahrenheit to up to 60,000 degrees,” the National Weather Service says.

Video shared by the Charlotte Fire Department on social media shows the home on Tremaine Court was severely damaged as firefighters worked 40 minutes to bring the fire under control.

The fire in the 1300 block of Sugar Hollow Drive took nearly an hour to quash, officials said.

It’s estimated there are 25 million cloud-to-ground lightning strikes annually in the United States, and summer is considered “the peak season,” according to the National Weather Service.