RELATED: Lightning surges across Bay Area as storms bring rain
VIDEO: Electric Bay Area skies illuminated with lightning
Strike after strike after strike of lightning lit up the skies above San Francisco, Mountain View, the Santa Cruz Mountains, and San Jose.
But in Los Gatos -- what Jeff Barnett heard was more frightening than what he saw.
"We started hearing noise of planes and helicopters and that's always a bad sign in the mountains," Barnett told ABC7 News.
He took cellphone video from his deck where a column of smoke can be seen rising from the ridgeline -- too close for comfort.
RELATED: Your AccuWeather forecast
"We talked about packing up the cat," Barnett added.
Cal Fire Santa Clara said there were multiple fires.
"If you don't respond to it, you let it smolder it can grow exponentially in a short amount of time or it could possibly smolder all day or all night before it takes off," said Cal Fire spokesperson Pam Temmermand.
Firefighters are trained to stay safe in lightning and officials said everyone should take precautions.
"If you're hearing thunder, it's close by so don't become a casualty. Make sure you get inside and stay inside," Temmermand added.
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