Officers responded to a house fire caused by lightning strike in Northwood, N.D., about 3:30 p.m. Sunday.
A lightning strike near the home at 216 North Adam Street traveled through the ground and hit the house’s circuit breaker or furnace, causing a fire to start, said Police Chief Stan Baker, of the Northwood Police Department.
There were people in the hom at the time of the fire, which was called in by someone attending a graduation party at the home next door, Baker said. The party was evacuated but then was able to return inside almost immediately, he said. There were no injuries.
The fire “was put out quick” by Northwood Fire Department, but the damage is fairly extensive, Baker said.
“There isn’t a cost estimate yet, but it’s going to be a pretty penny,” he said. The house had a fully-finished basement, which was ruined, he said.
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Northwood Ambulance and Grand Forks County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the scene.
This correction was published in the Herald May 28:
There were people inside a Northwood house at the time of a fire May 25, and they had mostly extinguished the fire by the time firefighters arrived. The fire was started in the house’s electrical system, but the exact location of where the fire started in the house is undetermined and under investigation, said Chad Veer, of the Northwood Fire Department.
