Columbus firefighters battled two blazes this morning simultaneously, both believed to have been sparked by lightning.

Firefighters were called to the 4200 block of Reece Lane on a report of a structure fire at 4:50 a.m. this morning and to a reported structure fire in the 3400 block of Rost Street at 4:52 a,n, this morning.

Reece Lane is in the Tipton Lakes neighborhood, while Rost Street is in the northern part of the city, off of Rockyford Road.

Matt Noblitt, fire inspector for the city fire department says that at Reece Lane they discovered a lightning strike appears to have ruptured a gas line and when the gas cloud got big enough, it was ignited by the pilot light on a water heater. The fire scorched the sides of the water heater, Noblitt says. It burned until the gas could be turned off.

At Rost Street they discovered a storage shed that was completely engulfed in flame. Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze, Noblitt says.