KINGSTON, MASS. (WHDH) - Firefighters responded in Kingston Thursday after lightning sparked a fire in a local home.
The Kingston Fire Department in a post on Facebook said the fire happened in a home on West Street near 12:30 p.m. The fire chief said lightning hit nearby and then traveled, sparking the electrical fire in the home.
Officials said two off-duty Duxbury firefighters were in a building next to the home that went up in flames and told first responders there was a confirmed fire in the attic. The firefighters assisted a 75-year-old woman and her dogs out of the house.
“I got dressed and had my radio on me, so I notified Kingston Fire of the conditions we had, and then we both went to work securing utilities and locating the seat of the fire for Kingston when they arrived,” said Kevin Heath, one of the Duxbury firefighters who assisted.
She said she heard a loud noise, but didn’t realize lightning had struck until she opened an air conditioner vent and saw smoke coming out.
“She was kind of out and about, but definitely didn’t seem like she quite knew exactly what was going on, especially her being inside, you couldn’t really tell that something was going on. We’re obviously just doing what we do,” said Sean Maiorano, another Duxbury firefighter who helped out.
Crews responded and brought the fire under control in approximately 30 minutes, the fire department said. They used an aerial ladder truck to reach the roof and cut a hole to vent the smoke. There were no reported injuries.
There was heavy fire damage to the attic, as well as water and smoke damage to the first and second floors. The woman and her husband, who both live in the home, will have to move out temporarily.
“We couldn’t have gotten a better neighbor,” the woman said.
This lightning strike and fire came as a series of strong storms swept across southern New England, bringing rain, lightning and at times gusty wind to many communities.
The storms prompted a flash flood warning in part of Bristol County and Rhode Island before eventually pulling out of the region.
A similar scene took place in Plymouth Thursday, where lightning struck a single-story home.
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