Advertisement

Electrical fireball erupts on power line near Montreal

(Please note that video contains strong language)

A blast of fire shot across a power line in Montreal last week, and one family was there to record the scene until the heat drove them back inside.

Huw Griffiths recorded the video that's received international news coverage during a storm where he lives in Lachine, outside of Montreal.

“What we saw was this fireball barreling down our power lines, and emanating an extreme amount of heat that essentially forced us back inside, because it was so so so hot,” Griffiths told ABC News. “It was like a surge, it was literally like a fireball, it’s the only way I can describe it.”

[ Related: Bomb built by 20-year-old Saskatoon man in a garage explodes on him ]

Griffiths told Fox and Friends a spark had previously lit up the power line, so when it happened again, he took out his cell phone camera. He said the transformer exploded and showered sparks on his house, leaving him worried he might leave the situation less an eyebrow or two.

Griffiths still seemed to have all his hair in an interview with ABC News, but the storm that caused the fireball knocked out power to about 350,000 hydro customers on Friday and downed hydro poles, a traffic light and trees, according to the CBC. There were no serious injuries reported.

The video has been viewed nearly 3 million times on YouTube since Griffiths posted it on Nov. 1.