Lighting storm or flares

It is 4 am and I am still seeing the same light flashes to the south of VG as I did at about midnight. We are located opposite the Baths facing east and toward The Mine Shaft. Over that hill and Coppermine in the distance there are flashes of light resembling lightning but haven awoken now and seeing them still in the same places, I cannot help wonder if they are something else...flares? Transformers? They only last less than 2 seconds each and repeat every few minutes and occur generally in 3 spots lighting up the clouds and appear quite distant.

We're moored at Water Point, Norman Island and have seen lighting flashes to the south all night long.

You will not see SOLAS flares "flashing" high in the sky at a distance. You would see single bright lights. One for each flare launched. Maybe you would see light reflecting on a low cloud. You would not see "flashes". At night you should see RED for disaster.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEWN_y-3BY4

The 12 gauge canister kits we see on most boats will do almost nothing. You would never be able to signal anyone over a hill with the 12 gauge kits. You may be able to get the attention of a passing boat but not much more. Any boat in open water should have fully approved SOLAS flares and signals; along with someone who knows how and when to use them.

http://www.westmarine.com/solas-flares

A proper maritime disaster flare is VERY distinctive. Everyone will stop, look, and notice.

For anyone with a plan to skipper or actively crew outside of Sir Francis Drake Channel or anywhere into open water. US Sailing Safety at Sea Seminar is a worthwhile activity.

http://www.ussailing.org/education/safety-at-sea/

If you remember taking Red Cross Lifesaving as a kid. Safety at Sea would be a nautical intellectual equivalent for adults.

When we lived full-time in the Caribbean we used to call it 'heat lightning'. It's lightning without thunder. And it's always way off in the distance. Dunno why. And we saw it occasionally, at any time of the year.
I'm sure that the Googles will tell you all about heat lightning.

At night you can see lightning for 100 miles or more. At best you can hear lighting at 15 miles in most cases 10 mile is the max for humans to hear the sounds of lightning. If the flashes are low. The lighting is somewhere on the other side of the horizon. "Heat" does not come into play only distance from the lightning.