Credit: Submitted
A lightning strike caused a Middletown house fire Thursday night.
Fire crews from the Langhorne-Middletown, Penndel and Yardley-Makefield fire companies were called to a home in the 300 block of Old Mill Drive in the Langhorne section of the township at 8:45 p.m. Dispatchers reported the resident told them he believed lightning from a heavy thunderstorm moving through the area struck the home.
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“The family heard a big bang and saw a flash,” Deputy Fire Marshal Ken Richards said. He later determined their assumption that lightning struck the house and caused the fire was correct.
Langhorne-Middletown Fire Company Chief Frank Farry said he arrived at 8:48 p.m. to find the street filled smoke and fire shooting from the side of the home.
Volunteer firefighters went into service with a hose line and were able to put out the flames in about 10 minutes, Farry said, noting the majority of the fire was on the exterior of the house.
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“They heavy rain, in part, kept the fire in check,” the chief said.
Farry said the family that lived in the home consisted of a husband, wife and two kids. The husband was treated at the scene by the Penndel-Middletown Emergency Squad for smoke inhalation.
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The family was not able to return to their home late Thursday night, Richards said from the scene.
Farry told LevittownNow.com the lightning strike caused enough force around the same time the fire call went off to activate a burglary alarm in the home next door to where the fire happened.
