San Jose street begins clean up after tree gets hit by lightning
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- After a wild thunder and lightning storm Thursday evening, one neighborhood was a mess after a redwood tree was struck by lightning and the top of it exploded into many different pieces. Neighbors said they are thankful no one was injured.
"I've never seen anything like this in San Jose," San Jose resident Kat Powell said. "I was so scared, I thought it was a nuclear bomb or... I didn't know what it was."
Video from PTZ TV/MorganHillwebcam.com showed flashes of light in the skies of the South Bay.
"I was definitely afraid for my daughter, so I just grabbed her and I was making sure she was OK," San Jose resident Michael Ruiz said.
PHOTOS: Lightning strikes across the Bay Area
After they heard the loud noise, residents on Taylor Street in San Jose came out to see a mess in the neighborhood.
"The redwood tree back there, the very top of it was on fire, and you look and there's a huge branch on our lawn," Ruiz said.
There were branches scattered all over the ground and a piece of the tree even fell on top of a duplex.
"People were saying 'lightning strike,' but I was just thinking somebody had to get hurt during that. Somebody has to be hurt," San Jose resident Kathleen Monarch said.
Thankfully, no one was injured, Dep. Chief John Justice of the Santa Clara County Fire Department says no fires were reported as a result of the lightning throughout the county, but the season is far from over.
"If you have combustible leaves, and other such things that lead right up to your house, that's going to take the fire right to your house. What we're actually asking you to do is help us help you," Justice said.
Fire officials are encouraging residents to provide some defensible space around their homes.
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Some of the video provided was from MorganHillWebcam.com.
