Westmount home struck by lightning during severe thunderstom

A home in Westmount was struck by lightning during a short but severe thunderstorm that hit the Montreal and Laval regions Wednesday.

The strike sparked a fire at the home on Bellevue Avenue around 2:45 p.m. About 60 firefighters and 17 emergency vehicles were on scene to battle the blaze, which started in the basement and spread to the first floor, say Montreal fire officials.

No injuries were reported, and no damage estimates are available yet.

In the early afternoon, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) said conditions were "favourable for the development of thunderstorms capable of producing heavy downpours" in the Montreal Island, Laval and Longueuil-Varennes area on the South shore.

The weather "watch" was upgraded to a "warning" later in the day as downpours hit the region. Montreal's Notre-Dame-de-Grace neighbourhood was hit hard with hail at one point.

"Heavy downpours can cause flash floods and water pooling on roads," the warning read.

The alert ended around 2:30 p.m.