We had almost the exact same thing happen to a large oak tree on the back corner lot of the previous home we moved from.
The lightning strike came down the tree from an upper branch, blew a hole of dirt out at the tree roots, ran across the ground, traveled along the low voltage sprinkler system valve wiring up around the side yard, took out the basement heat pump compressor, followed the sprinkler system wiring around the front yard into the garage, took out the sprinkler controller and the GFCI outlet it was plugged into.
