In a scene straight out of a disaster movie, a ferocious lightning storm unleashed hell on Fresno, California, igniting wildfires and plunging the city into chaos. Thousands of bolts hammered the region in a single night, sparking over 50 blazes that devoured homes, forced mass evacuations, and turned the skyline into a fiery nightmare. Firefighters battled flames as embers rained down, with one blaze—the deadly Fresno Lightning Inferno—raging across 20,000 acres and claiming structures in its path.
The assault began under a deceptive clear sky, but monsoon-like conditions from an unusual low-pressure system off the Pacific flipped the switch. “It was like the heavens were at war,” recounted resident Elena Vargas, whose neighborhood in southeast Fresno watched in horror as bolts struck power lines, exploding in brilliant fireballs. No fatalities were reported in the city core, but the strikes crippled electrical grids, leaving 150,000 without power amid swirling smoke and thunderous roars.