ABINGTON, MASS. (WHDH) - A lightning strike sparked a house fire in Abington Friday morning, according to Abington Fire Chief Jack Glynn.
The Abington Fire Department said crews were called to a home on Randolph Street shortly after 5 a.m. for a report of lightning striking a house. Preliminary information suggests the lightning hit a tree and traveled through the ground to a barn at the home, Glynn said.
“The tree behind us in the backyard was struck. It created a two-foot-wide trench from the tree all the way to the house,” Glynn said. “It did affect two other houses, but it was heavy fire showing; immediately after that we had to go to a third. Crews were overspent; they were working hard, they were aggressive.”
Four people, two adults and two children, were able to get out of the home safely.
One firefighter was taken to hospital for smoke inhalation and is expected to be okay, officials said.
Two neighbors said they had some electronics fried from the strike.
“Around 5 o’clock this morning, it went ‘boom,’ and we jumped out of bed wondering what the hell happened here,” said Dave Campbell, who heard the strike. “And we came out to the family room and saw a house on fire. Actually called them, and she called the fire department.”
Glynn said a car also crashed into a fire truck as they were shutting down Route 18 to work on extinguishing the fire.
(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)