A fire on the Carnival Freedom cruise ship was extinguished after witnesses reported a possible lightning strike.

(CNN) — Heath Barnes opens his book on the upper deck of the Carnival Freedom cruise ship bound for the Bahamas. It was raining. But his Saturday afternoon rest was interrupted by “the loudest thunder and lightning I’ve ever heard,” he told CNN.

Barnes, of Woodsboro, Maryland, drove back and a few minutes later learned from his nephew and two of his nephew’s friends, all 16, that the boat was on fire.

“I thought they were giving me a hard time, but I got up and went to the balcony and sure enough, there were flames and smoke coming out of the tail,” said Barnes, who shared footage of the incident with CNN.

Heath Barnes took this photograph of fire and smoke billowing from the exhaust funnel on the Carnival Freedom cruise ship near the Bahamas on March 23. Heath Barnes

Cruise officials reported that the fire broke out on the port side of the ship’s exhaust funnel around 3:15 p.m. local time, according to a news release from Carnival Cruise Line.

Witnesses reported that the ship may have been struck by lightning, but this has not been confirmed and the cause is still under investigation, according to the cruise company.

The ship’s fire response team worked to extinguish the fire, according to the statement, after the cruise ship’s captain diverted the ship to an area of ​​heavy rain, according to the statement.

The fire appeared to be under control about two hours after it started. No injuries were reported among guests, but two fire crew members were treated for minor smoke inhalation, according to the cruise company.

According to Carnival, the port side of the exhaust funnel collapsed on deck 10 of the ship as a result of the fire.

The ship was about 32 kilometers off Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas when the fire broke out. According to the statement, the incident started when the vessel was heading towards Freeport.

The cruise line said passengers were able to attend dinner as planned on Saturday night and that all areas of the ship were fully operational by Sunday, except for the open deck.

The ship visited Freeport on Sunday, Carnival said, adding that there were no operational problems with the ship’s systems. “Carnival does not anticipate any impact on Carnival Freedom’s next voyage scheduled to depart Port Canaveral on Monday, March 25,” the statement said.

The incident was reported to the United States Coast Guard.

Passengers were told to remain in their cabins until about 5:40 a.m. after the fire broke out, Barnes said.

This was their 18th voyage on a Carnival cruise.

“This was the most interesting,” he said. “It’s not their fault, it’s mother nature.”