Is electricity really fire on crack?

Question

When a lighting volt hits a tree, it bursts into flames, as if the tree slowed it down and caused it to become fire. It would be cool to see a camp fire just twist and become electricity and dive into the ground.

Answer 1

The reason that you get sparks and fire when lightning hits a tree is because the energy stored in the lightning (a potential or voltage between the sky and earth, or in this case, a tree) creates a force on the ions in the tree.  The sparks are from ionization (just as the lightning itself looks like one sort of huge continuous spark), and the fire is because energy is being delivered into the tree, heating it up.  

Producing heat is just one way for the energy to dissipate - just like, when you rub your hands together quickly, the friction force between them converts some of your motion into heat (same in smoking tires from trying to rabbit off a stop).  So, many forms of energy pretty readily convert to heat, but going from heat/light production from fire flames to electricity... not as easy.  Surely it can be done (thermocouples and the like), but it's not as easily done.  

Soooooo, you're camp fire just isn't going to turn into electricity and dive into the ground, as much as people might enjoy the spectacle :)

Answer 2

eyeSIS' answer seems a bit long and overly complex. I'll try to be simple.

What you see with lightning is a channel of glowing plasma created by massive electric current (you can't see electricity itself, only the plasma). fire is a chemical reaction in which, oxygen gas fuses with burnable chemicals, like carbon or hydrogen. Trees are burnable and lightning is super-hot, especially when trying to pass through something like wood. Heat plus wood equals fire, yaaay!