It was a fiery night near Mt.Diablo as lightning sparked multiple grass fires and possibly led to the burning down of a Danville home.
Eric James Leffler of Walnut Creek went out to photograph long-exposures of the lightning storm but caught the strikes' resulting wrath, instead.
Thanks for the photos, James! You or any reader can also add photos to this or any Patch article by clicking the "add photo & videos" link below the images. See link above.
The Fires
Cal Fire and local fire crews contained five vegetation fires in eastern Contra Costa County which were ignited around 8 p.m., according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The largest fire, pictured above, took out 33 acres near Old Borges Ranch at 1035 Castle Rock in Walnut Creek.
Other large fires were put out at Morgan Territory Regional Park (seven acres) and Morgan Territory Road at Leon Drive (two acres).
Though the cause hasn't been confirmed, a two-alarm house fire in Danville with estimated damage of more than $1 million was reported around 8:40 p.m. The house was completely destroyed in under an hour, fire district information officer Kim French said.
One person was in the house when the fire broke out. That person was safely evacuated and there were no injuries reported, according to French.
An additional $300,000 in damages is estimated for the contents of the house.
Dispatchers said a lightning strike may have caused the fire.
Danville Patch and Bay City News contributed to this report.
