Lightning starts house fire in Brentwood

Crazy odds: Lightning starts house fire in Brentwood

Lightning lit up the skies Wednesday night throughout the Bay Area, and firefighters in Brentwood said one such strike caused a house fire when the electricity hit a weather vane on top of the roof.

BRENTWOOD, Calif. - Lightning lit up the skies Wednesday night throughout the Bay Area, and firefighters in Brentwood said one such strike caused a house fire when the electricity hit a weather vane on top of the roof. 

Contra Costa County Fire Battalion Chief Jeff Burris said crews got the call about midnight about a home on Anderson Avenue that was under renovations being on fire. 

"We believe we had a residential structure fire that was started by lightning striking a weather vane on the top of the residence," Burris said. 

The fire then started a fire in the attic.

A weather van on top of a Brentwood home was struck by lightning, which started a fire. Sept. 24, 2025 

Nearby contractors noticed the fire and called firefighters and the homeowner, Anish Singh.

"It was very scary," said Singh, who has a young son and whose wife is expecting twins. "I thought, ‘is this even possible? What are the chances of our house being struck by lightning?’ My wife looked it up online, it's like a 1 in 200 or something like that." 

Firefighters were able to get it under control quickly, Burris said.

Singh says his family will take an extra few months to move into the home because the lightning destroyed the electrical wiring.

Despite that, he and his family are happy the damage to the inside and outside the house isn't worse.

Lightning was spotted in other spots throughout the Bay Area late Wednesday, including in San Francisco, San Ramon and Livermore.