A home in the main street of Bright was destroyed overnight Saturday after a tree set on fire from a lightning strike toppled and fell onto the property.

Detective Senior Constable Steve Burke of Wangaratta police said around 2am Sunday, 1 February, the AirBnB in Gavan Street caught fire after a storm passed through the area.

“Witnesses say they heard the big, loud bang of what they believed to be a lightning strike, the tree was on fire, and it fell onto the house,” he said.

“It was an unoccupied house at the time, but it was very close to other homes in the street.”

Det Sen Const Burke said about 10 CFA appliances responded to the incident and quickly worked to contain the blaze from spreading to other residences.

“For what could have happened, it was lucky no one was hurt,” he said.