Residents had to be evacuated from their homes in Co Clare today after their houses were damaged in a lightning strike.
The alarm was raised shortly before 10am at Clonmoney Grove in Crusheen after lightning struck a tree in the grounds of the local primary school.
Fuse boxes exploded and telephone sockets and light fittings were blown off walls in the incident.
Three units of the fire brigade and ambulances from Ennis rushed to the scene after receiving an initial report about a house fire. On arrival at the scene, fire fighters where shocked to see the amount of damage caused
but found no fire.
Extensive damage was caused over a wide area after the tree was struck by a bolt of lightning and disintegrated while electricity and telephone services were also knocked out.
There was also considerable damage caused to the local primary school where locals believe someone would have been killed if the incident happened during school hours.