Only posting here to share some info in case it ever happens to you….
Last night around 11, a strong thunderstorm rolled through. High winds, rain and lightning. A typical Spring storm in North Texas. My wife and I were watching TV when there as a loud explosion (like nothing I have ever heard/felt….a huge concussion blast). A large fireball flew out our fireplace in front of us. I yelled “we just got hit by lighting” and I ran outside on the back porch to look at the roof. No visible flames. My wife ran upstairs to wake up the kids. I began running through the house with my cell phone light (power was out). I began in the attic, nothing. My wife checked the attic crawl space in my daughter’s room. Flames 3’ high. I ran to garage for a fire extinguisher and she called 911. I put the fire out and watched the area for a minute. Nothing, so ran to another crawl space on other side of house. All clear.
Went back to the first attic and flames were coming from the sub floor. 3’ in height. I yelled at my boys (who were on the front porch) to go get all the extinguishers in the garage. Luckily, I had 4 large ones. I put the fire out, but it kept coming back from the sub floor. I was on my last extinguisher when the Fire Department arrived. They tore through the ceiling, turned off the gas main on the side of the house and extinguished the fire.
Upon inspection by the Fire Marshall, Lightning hit the chimney and travelled down hitting a gas line adjacent to the fire place. The fire kept coming back in the subfloor because the ruptured gas line was acting like a large 3’ pilot light.
Damage to bedroom ceiling and fireplace; however, the poly gas line blew and there are now pin sized holes throughout the attic gas line. He said all gas lines in the home will need to be replaced.
The lightning also fried some electronics…TV, phones, phone chargers, a few breakers…. It could have bene much worse. Prayers that we were home! If we were not here, the Fire Marshall said the house would have been a total loss after 20 minutes with a gas fueled fire.
Lesson learned from this…..always have extra fire extinguishers handy and always turn off the gas main on the side of the house (by meter) whenever there is a fire in your home. Today, go find your gas shut off and keep a crescent wrench handy. It could save your home!
Last night around 11, a strong thunderstorm rolled through. High winds, rain and lightning. A typical Spring storm in North Texas. My wife and I were watching TV when there as a loud explosion (like nothing I have ever heard/felt….a huge concussion blast). A large fireball flew out our fireplace in front of us. I yelled “we just got hit by lighting” and I ran outside on the back porch to look at the roof. No visible flames. My wife ran upstairs to wake up the kids. I began running through the house with my cell phone light (power was out). I began in the attic, nothing. My wife checked the attic crawl space in my daughter’s room. Flames 3’ high. I ran to garage for a fire extinguisher and she called 911. I put the fire out and watched the area for a minute. Nothing, so ran to another crawl space on other side of house. All clear.
Went back to the first attic and flames were coming from the sub floor. 3’ in height. I yelled at my boys (who were on the front porch) to go get all the extinguishers in the garage. Luckily, I had 4 large ones. I put the fire out, but it kept coming back from the sub floor. I was on my last extinguisher when the Fire Department arrived. They tore through the ceiling, turned off the gas main on the side of the house and extinguished the fire.
Upon inspection by the Fire Marshall, Lightning hit the chimney and travelled down hitting a gas line adjacent to the fire place. The fire kept coming back in the subfloor because the ruptured gas line was acting like a large 3’ pilot light.
Damage to bedroom ceiling and fireplace; however, the poly gas line blew and there are now pin sized holes throughout the attic gas line. He said all gas lines in the home will need to be replaced.
The lightning also fried some electronics…TV, phones, phone chargers, a few breakers…. It could have bene much worse. Prayers that we were home! If we were not here, the Fire Marshall said the house would have been a total loss after 20 minutes with a gas fueled fire.
Lesson learned from this…..always have extra fire extinguishers handy and always turn off the gas main on the side of the house (by meter) whenever there is a fire in your home. Today, go find your gas shut off and keep a crescent wrench handy. It could save your home!
Comment