Crime & Safety
Lightning Strike Damages Home on Dakota Trail
Family of five were sleeping, but escaped unharmed.
Lightning caused an early morning fire in unincorporated Lilburn that displaced a family of five from their home on Dakota Trail.
Gwinnett Fire Capt. Tommy Rutledge said the two adults and three children were asleep when the lighting and fire hit after 4 a.m. They escaped unharmed.
Rutledge said the incident commander found a defined hole in the backyard, where it is believed the lightning struck before traveling into the home.
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Firefighters were dispatched at 4:35 a.m. after a 9-1-1 call from the homeowner. The fire was under control at 5:36.
Rutledge said the fire caused heavy damage to the garage, attic and upstairs of the two-story home. Smoke, heat and water damage is throughout the home, he said.
At one point, firefighters were forced out of the house by the intense fire conditions and a partial collapse.
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"This fire demonstrates the powerful energy contained in a lightning strike," Rutledge said in a press release. "We are fortunate that the family was able to escape unharmed.”
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