'Like a big fireball': Saskatoon couple describe lightning strike that knocked father to the ground

CBC

6 hours ago

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Eric Milne says he remembers seeing a big flash and then wondering why he was on his back on the driveway.
Leanne Milne remembers seeing the big flash and wondering, "Where's Eric?"
It was around 5:30 p.m. CST on Thursday and the couple were getting ready to head downtown with their kids to catch a movie, How to Train Your Dragon.
The clouds were thick and black over the city and Leanne was getting the kids into storm gear.
They live in a two-storey in the Montgomery Place neighbourhood, with a treed front yard. Eric had gone outside to wait in their silver Chevy half-ton and Leanne was standing in their open front door wrestling their son into his rain slicker.
Then, boom.
"It looked like an explosion. I thought like a bomb honestly went off … like a big fireball," Leanne said in an interview Friday.
"I was like panicking, because I didn't know where [Eric] was. And then I thought, maybe he's in the truck. So I walked up to the truck and I was like, OK, thank God he's not in the truck. And then I saw him."
Eric was on his back on the ground, confused but unhurt. He knew the truck's tire was deflating and that the aerial had ignited.
"I knew the truck was on fire and I'm like, I gotta get up and deal with that. But I was like, I'm not sure if I'm OK, so I lied there for a second. I figured I was OK, and then I went and tried to deal with it. But then six or eight neighbours were running in to help, like, immediately, and my neighbour across the street thankfully put out the fire right away."
WATCH | Saskatoon couple describes close encounter with lightning:
'A big fireball': Saskatoon couple describes close encounter with lightning
3 hours ago
Duration 2:28
Eric and Leanne Milne were heading out to a movie with their kids on June 19, 2025, when lightning struck.
Eric figured the lightning hit the tree and then arced to a lamppost, to the truck and to the house. It popped out a light fixture at the door and tripped their breakers.
"I felt the wave of the shockwave, I guess you call it," he said.
Leanne eventually did take the kids to the movie. Eric stayed home.
"Last night, I was just a ball of adrenaline for hours."