Lightning strike sparks fire in New Hampshire house despite tornado warnings

Dana Hawkes was standing in his driveway in Manchester when he saw his neighbor’s house struck by lightning on Sunday.

“It was crazy, I was scared shitless,” said Dana Hawkes. “I actually wanted to go outside to see where the storm was and then I heard this crackling sound and when I looked up I saw five bolts of lightning intertwined, just BOOM like a big explosion and shrapnel everywhere.”

He says he immediately called his neighbor and 911 when the house caught fire.

“I called my neighbor and he thought I was joking. I said, ‘Your house was struck by lightning and is burning,'” Hawkes said.

There was also a tornado warning for this area.

Fortunately, a tornado never occurred, but firefighters were already on high alert when they received the emergency call.

“We were all standing in the equipment hall, excitedly planning what we were going to do. Then they were ready to go and jumped into the trucks pretty quickly,” said Battalion Chief Kenneth Proulx of the Manchester Fire Department.

Proulx says they managed to contain the fire to the attic and he believes it was caused by a lightning strike.

“We have several smaller fires in different areas of the attic, that indicates electrical transmission, so I would say yes, there are some signs of that nature,” said Battalion Commander Proulx.

“The fire and smoke came from our attic. Thank God the firefighters got here quickly,” said Donna Provencher, who lives in the affected house.

Provencher says she and her fiancé were fortunately not home at the time of the lightning strike and all damages can be compensated.

“All I care about is that no one gets hurt,” Provencher said.

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