Two homes were destroyed and a third was badly damaged by lightning off the north coast of Montreal during a severe storm that devastated southern Quebec on Thursday afternoon.
Police say lightning struck a house around 4:15 p.m., and set fire to a house on Cerisiers Street in the suburbs outside the island of Ste-Marthe-sur-le-Lac.
“Everything is lost. Everything is burned,” Benoit Paquette said as his family swept the rubble of what was once his home.
Benoit Paquette lost his family home in a flash in Ste-Marthe-sur-le-Lac.
Lightning burned a hole through its roof and a fire broke out inside the house.
Paquette said he saw the flames from a distance as he drove home. It wasn’t until he got closer that he realized he had made the terrible statement.
“We said, ‘There’s a house on fire … it was our house on fire,'” he said through tears.
Paquette said he lost most of his possessions, but is thankful his children weren’t inside when the lightning struck.
An image from a video of a drone shows the consequences of lightning that destroyed two houses in Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac, Que. and damaged a third house during a storm on Thursday, June 16, 2022. (CTV News)
Strong winds caused the sparks of the fire to spread rapidly to two neighboring houses.
“I have never seen a lightning strike that destroys homes in my 22 years as a police officer,” the Insp said. Jean-Philippe Labbé with the Lac des Deux-Montagnes Police Department.
CTV News drone footage showed the aftermath of the intense storm on the residential street.
Two people were treated for smoke inhalation at the site, but did not need to be hospitalized. Nine residents were evacuated from their homes and have been welcomed by the Red Cross and family or friends, he added.
Firefighters extinguish a house with water after lightning caused a fire on the street Cerisiers de Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac, Que. on Thursday, June 16, 2022. (CTV News)
“Everyone is fine. We are very happy with that,” Labbé said.
“It simply came to our notice then [firefighters] got there the fire was quite intense. Many hours after they arrived, they were still fighting the fire. “
Firefighters from four neighboring municipalities helped fight the blaze and were still at 9 p.m.
Firefighters are fighting a lightning strike on a residential street in Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac, Que. Thursday, June 16, 2022. (CTV News)
Archived by Max Harrold of CTV News Montreal, Stephane Giroux and Touria Izri