Two men fixing the roof of an east Dayton home were hit by lightning when storms rolled through the Dayton area earlier in the evening.

One of the men fell off of the roof and suffered serious injuries, emergency crews said. The other man hit by the strike managed to get himself back inside the attic of the home and was not seriously injured. Both were transported by ambulance to the hospital.

The strike also sparked a small fire on the roof of the house located on the northeast corner of South Harbine Avenue and East Fourth Street.

Dayton Fire Capt. Bob Cockayne said it appeared that the men were trying to cover the roof with tarps when heavy rain began to fall and a lightning bolt struck the peak of the roof. The vacant home is being renovated and the roof was not shingled.

Cockayne said firefighters had to wait to go onto the roof until the danger of lightning strikes was over. He said the fire was very minor and was put out quickly.

Severe thunderstorms that swept through the Miami Valley brought several cloud-to-ground lightning strikes. More than 1,000 power outages have been reported to Dayton Power and Light in Darke, Miami, Greene, and Montgomery counties, a company spokesperson said.