Lightning strike destroys gas line and triggers house fire in Germantown
Ten fire departments were dispatched to Germantown to extinguish several fires caused by lightning strikes on Monday evening.
A lightning strike caused a large natural gas leak and two homes in Germantown had to be evacuated shortly after 10 p.m., said Germantown Fire Chief John Delain.
Delain said lightning struck a tree near the corner of Starlite Drive and Pilgrim Road, causing a gas line to burst and subsequently damaging a nearby gas meter.
When firefighters arrived, a neighbor had put out the fire near the tree, but there was a strong smell of natural gas and the ground near the tree was “exploding with natural gas,” according to a Germantown Fire Department news release. The neighbor told firefighters that a home about eight houses away was burning.
Firefighters responded to the home on the corner of Venus Court and Moonlite Drive where a gas meter next to the home had exploded and caught fire.
Firefighters were able to put out the fire, but were unable to immediately shut off the gas supply. According to the fire department’s press release, the smell could still be smelled for several blocks.
The fire department worked for three hours before turning the case over to We Energies, the press release said.
The people who had been evacuated from their homes – one from the burning house and the other because of fears of a gas leak – were able to return an hour later, Delain said.
Delain said the house that caught fire had only exterior paint damage and there was virtually no damage to the house itself. “Thank God the house was made of stone,” he said.
He added: “When there is lightning, it is safest to be indoors.”
The Germantown Fire Department was assisted by the Menomonee Falls, Grafton, Hartford, Jackson, Lisbon, Southern Ozaukee, West Bend and Slinger fire departments, We Energies and the Richfield Volunteer Fire Department.
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Reach Cathy Kozlowicz at 262-361-9132 or [email protected]. Follow her on X at @kozlowicz_cathy.
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