APPLETON, Wis. (WBAY) - Storms on Thursday night caused damage and flooding in the area overnight.
That included trees falling onto homes and a pole in Appleton catching fire after being struck by lightning.
Steve Polzin tells Action 2 News it started with a boom and a flash.
“I immediately knew we were hit by lightning,” said Polzin, a homeowner on Fuji Drive in Appleton.
The question was where the lightning strike hit.
“I thought it was in the backyard, because that’s where I had seen flash,” said Polzin. “I was investigating. I opened up the door and didn’t see anything, but I noticed some flames, reflections of flames on the neighbor’s house."
“It was about 30 seconds later, and we had several conflicting reports coming as to what exactly was going on,” said Lt. Jeff Nelessen with the Appleton Fire Department.
The Appleton Fire Department gets about four calls per year for fires caused by lightning strikes, but what what Nelessen saw on Fuji Drive was unlike anything he has ever seen in his 26 year career.
“When we arrived on scene, we noticed a light pole that was fully involved in fire, but it was burning all around the base as well in an area maybe 30 to 40 foot diameter,” Nelessen.
“We had flame that was actually coming up out of the ground,” said Polzin. “So the neighbors had hooked some hoses out and just couldn’t put it out.”
Firefighters quickly realized it was a ruptured natural gas line fueling the flames and chose to keep the fire going to avoid the release of a large vapor cloud.
“Our biggest job challenge on this scene was protecting nearby houses from this fire,” said Nelessen.
We Energies worked on scene to shut off the gas in an effort to put out the flames.
People living in nearby homes, including the Polzins, were evacuated, but the wind worked in the firefighters' favor. The fire did not spread to any of the surrounding homes, and nobody was hurt.
Polzin tells Action 2 News he is spending the day fixing mechanical and electrical systems disrupted by the lightning strike.
“I know talking to a few neighbors I got a garage door across the street that’s not working,” said Polzin. “I’ve got a garage door here that’s not working, the garage door next door is not working, my furnace went out, I lost two TVs, my router.”
Firefighters did check nearby homes for the presence of natural gas but did not find any had made its way inside.
Copyright 2020 WBAY. All rights reserved.
"strike" - Google News
October 24, 2020 at 04:49AM
https://ift.tt/3kqXbGi
Appleton homeowner recalls 'scary' lightning strike fire - WBAY
"strike" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2WheuPk
https://ift.tt/2VWImBB
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Appleton homeowner recalls 'scary' lightning strike fire - WBAY"
Post a Comment