A day after a lightning strike caused a devastating fire in a home in the Oostindie district of Leek, curious local residents took to the street to see the damage with their own eyes. The roof of the detached new-build home was seriously affected and the interior suffered significant damage from fire, smoke and fire extinguishing water.
The house on Foxglove was only moved into by the residents a few months ago. That is precisely why the news hits the area extra hard.
“It’s terrible to see,” says a local resident as he looks at the damaged house. “They had only lived here for a short time. Everything was new and not even completely finished.”
On Friday evening, lightning struck the house during the storm. Local residents heard a huge bang, followed by the sound of falling roof tiles. Smoke was observed almost immediately afterwards.
“At first I thought lightning had struck somewhere nearby,” says a neighbor. “When I looked outside, I saw a fire near the roof. Within a few minutes it got worse.”
Cat escapes fire
The residents were not home at the time of the fire. When neighbors saw the cars in the driveway, they feared there might still be people inside.
“We tried to make direct contact. Fortunately, we got the owner on the phone. He was visiting somewhere else and immediately came this way,” says a neighbor.
Once arrived, the resident was able to quickly gain access to the garage. This allowed the family cat to escape before the fire spread further.
“That was the only thing on his mind at that moment. Fortunately, the animal was unharmed,” said a local resident.
Flames spread quickly
Several local residents initially tried to control the fire with garden hoses. However, that turned out to be impossible.
“You see flames and you want to do something, especially because the houses here are relatively close to each other,” says a local resident. “But the fire was already in the roof and spread very quickly.”
The fire brigade was present with several units and ultimately managed to prevent the fire from spreading to surrounding homes. The affected house did sustain heavy damage.
According to the fire brigade, the house may not be entered for the time being due to the smoke and soot damage. The exact extent of the damage will be mapped out in the coming days.
There is still plenty of talk about the event in the street on Saturday. “You don’t expect that a lightning strike can do so much,” says a resident. “It could have ended very differently here.”
