News - Local
Scott Home Hit by Lightning
Posted: Jul 4, 2012 4:59 PM by Steven Albritton
Updated: Jul 4, 2012 5:18 PM
Joey Richard went to check on a friends house during yesterdays storms, only to get a call saying his house had been hit by lightning and was on fire.
"Some of the neighbors had come over because a lot of the neighbors had also heard the lightning. So they were all outside checking their homes to see if it was their home that got hit too," Richard said.
When he returned home, first responders were already there battling the fire. The fire started in a closet and worked its way into the attic. Richard had 14-16 inches of fire retardant insulation put in the house and he says that was a big reason why his house was able to be saved.
"That few hundred dollars probably saved me thousands of dollars in the long run," Richard said.
With the fire contained to the attic the heat kept building in his home. Almost every plank of wood was charred from smoke or flames in the attic. Firefighters told Richard that it was one of the hottest fires they had battled, and one firefighters helmet even started melting.
"They had indicated that probably in another 5 to 10 minutes it was very possible for the entire attic and roof to just basically explode into flames," Richard said.
Insurance agents won't be able to fully assess the monetary damage until July 5th due to the holiday. For now, Richard will be staying with friends and family in the area.
"Thank god for emergency services, from the police officers to the ambulance crew. Not only to make sure that the homeowner and residents were OK, but to make sure that the fire fighters and other emergency services personnel were all OK. And definetly thank you to all the fire departments that responded Scott, Lafayette, Duson, Carencrow, Mire, and Cankton," Richard said.
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