EDMONTON – While most of the Edmonton was spared by Friday night’s thunderstorm, it hit the city’s southwest fairly hard.
Cracks and thunder and bright bolts of lightning filled the evening sky around 8 p.m. Friday.
Elsie Schiewe, who lives in the area of 156 Street and 41 Avenue SW, was in her kitchen when the storm rolled through.
“There was just a really loud, loud crack of thunder. In fact, I jumped,” she explained.
Following the thunder came a strike of lightning, which hit a group of spruce trees near her home.
“The whole tree was on fire and it was just spreading very, very quickly,” Schiewe explained.
Because the property is on the city limits, crews from the Edmonton and Leduc fire departments arrived on scene. Crews were able to quickly douse the blaze.
Four or five trees were destroyed by the fire. Leduc County Fire Services has confirmed the cause of the fire was lightning.
Conditions across Alberta are extremely dry this summer. More than 120 wildfires were burning across Alberta Saturday afternoon, with 52 listed as out of control.
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