Boat fire likely caused by lightning strike

GULFPORT, Fla. (FOX 13) - Officials say a lightning strike was likely the cause of a boat fire in Gulfport early Saturday evening. Many onlookers took to social media to post pictures of the billowing smoke filling the sky over the bay. 

Karen Whittaker said she was in her condo at the end of the beach by the recreation center when she saw the smoke right after the strike. "When the lightning struck it turned on the alarms at our building so there's a little bit of chaos here right now," she explained.

"It was pretty exciting when the propane tank went off," Robert Cox mentioned in a post on Facebook. "As far as we know it was empty, boat was the Katydid," he further commented.

Although fire officials have not yet confirmed it was indeed a lightning strike that caused the fire they are investigating.