Security cameras captured the dramatic moment a bolt of lightning slammed into a pine tree in Tomahawk, Wisconsin, on Sept. 9, blasting bark and debris across the yard and setting the trunk ablaze.

The homeowner, Mike Smith, said he wasn’t home at the time. Instead, his neighbors sprang into action. The video shows them filling buckets with water from a nearby lake and dousing the flames at the base of the tree until fire crews arrived to handle the blaze higher up.

Smith later shared the footage on Facebook, writing: “We had a freak bolt of lightning destroy one of our pine trees. Thanks to our great neighbors for putting out the fire and helping me with communication with emergency services. Sad for our tree…”

While it may seem unusual for lightning to strike amid calm conditions, met

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