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Lightning strike sparks house fire

Published Tuesday, June 7, 2005
A Columbia couple escaped their burning home early Sunday after lightning sparked a blaze that caused $30,000 in damages, Columbia fire Battalion Chief Steve Sapp said in a news release.

Firefighters extinguished the flames in about five minutes, Sapp said. Investigators determined that a lightning strike from thunderstorms moving through the area likely struck the home’s main electrical panel in the garage, where the fire originated.

The residents, Dwayne and Lois Baskett, awakened about 3 a.m. to a loud noise, possibly the lightning strike. Minutes later, Sapp said, they were alerted by their smoke alarms. After escaping to a neighbor’s house to call 911 on a cell phone, one of the owners used a garden hose to break out a garage window and sprayed water on flames in the garage.

Water on an electrical fire,how oblivious can you get?

 

[Boltzmann]

I wouldn’t really blame the guy. He was probably desperate seeing the fire, and how many people have CO2 fire extinguishers in their houses?

It was a dumb thing in retrospect, but the circumstances are a good excuse.