Fires caused by lightning strikes burnt down three homes on the Naardermeer in Naarden during the early hours of Friday morning. "Three of our neighbors are now homeless", a stunned local resident said to RTL Nieuws.

The first fire broke out around 3:00 a.m. at a farm with two homes on it. The fire department responded en masse, but could not prevent both homes from going up in smoke. "A 400 year-old farmhouse. There were two homes in the building", the neighbor explained. Both were destroyed.

At the same time, a third home some 200 meters away also went up in flames. "There the residents, a somewhat older couple, had to be rescued by firefighters from the upper floor where they slept. Three of our neighbors are now homeless. Unbelievable."

Another neighbor is also stunned by what happened. "These are very good friends of ours", she said to the broadcaster. "This is terrible, really terrible. Fortunately nobody got hurt."

Lightning strikes also caused fires in Tilburg, Zwijndrecht, Weesp, Wijk bij Duurstede and Heeswijk-Dinther during the night. The fire in Heeswijk-Dinther was at a pig farm. Two barns burnt down, killing some 4 thousand sows. 

Drie boerderijen bij het #Naardermeer volledig in de as gelegd na blikseminslag. Bewoners gelukkig in veiligheid. #bliksem #naarden pic.twitter.com/h5cmpwb3g1

— Rens Muller (@RensMuller) July 7, 2017