Fire District 6 firefighters responded to what was reported as a brush fire at 3:45 a.m. They arrived at 1501 N.E. 72nd St., a strip of property extending south, and could see fire at the crest of a hill but could not get to it.

They laid 700 feet of hose to reach the fire. It turned out to be in a run-down shed that had apparently been struck by lightning, said Leah Lothspeich, spokeswoman for Fire District 6.

Property owner Keith Kadow was optimistic about the fire, Lothspeich said, saying he now wouldn’t need to tear down the old shed.

The fire did not spread to the trees surrounding the shed, Lothspeich said.

Firefighters stayed on scene until 5 a.m.

In Vancouver, there were no reported fires caused by lightning. The precipitation could be seen as a blessing in keeping grasses from drying out, said Jim Flaherty, firefighter-spokesman with the Vancouver Fire Department.

“Any rain prior to the Fourth that will get some moisture to those fuels is fantastic,” Flaherty said. “We appreciate the hard rain and hope that people can be responsible with the fireworks.”

About 150 households lost power, said Lena Wittler with Clark Public Utilities. All had their power restored by 7:15, Wittler said

The largest outage occurred at 3:26 a.m. The 90 households, between Northeast 83rd and 86th streets and Northeast 97th and 103rd avenues, had power restored by 4:45 a.m.

Other small outages were in the Brush Prairie and north Camas areas.

Lightning strikes were reported, and some customers were without power. Bob Blakey of Vancouver reported a direct lighting strike on a tree across the street from his Evergreen Highlands house, at 6405 Buena Vista Drive.

 Another strike lit up a tree west of Battle Ground, sending pieces flying 50 or 60 feet away. Clark County Fire & Rescue crews responded to what was reported as a building on fire to find a tree burning in a farm field.

The fire, off Northeast 199th Street around 87th Avenue, came in at 2:47 a.m. “There was a group of three, it looks like Douglas firs,” said Henry Von Dem Fange, spokesman for Clark County Fire & Rescue. “It looks like (the lightning) went down one and just exploded.”

The fire was mostly out by 4:30, but some remained in cracks and crevices of the tree, Von Dem Fange said. Firefighters are using the tree as a training exercise.

“We’re probably going to be baby-sitting it all day,” he said.