Lightning may be to blame for a fire that destroyed part of a historic home in Guelph.

Fire crews were called to Manor Park, located on Manor Park Crescent, around 6 a.m. Tuesday – but by that point, the fire had already been burning for some time.

Richard Tramer got home from work around 5:15 a.m.

He knew that a thunderstorm had rolled through, and wasn’t surprised to see its effects lingering in the neighbourhood.

“The streetlights were out. That’s common with lightning … so you don’t take much notice,” he says.

As Tramer moved around his unit in Manor Park – a historic home built from stone in 1857; it’s now a triplex – he noticed that a light switch wasn’t working properly and the intercom system was amaking an unusual sound.

His partner than realized that she could see flames from outside the building, at which point they made sure everyone was out of the structure and Tramer pulled out his cellphone to call 911.

“When we arrived, there were flames coming out the roof,” deputy fire chief John Osborne says.

The roof of the building quickly collapsed, and firefighters worked to save the two wings of the structure.

Osborne called the incident a “very stubborn fire” due to the building’s stone construction.

It’s believed the fire started in the roof, and neighbours say it may have been spared by a bolt of lightning.

Kim Cochrane remembers hearing a loud crack of thunder around 3 a.m.

“It sounded like it hit something,” she says.

Guelph Transit buses were brought in to house displaced residents, while neighbours opened their doors as well.