Home attic set ablaze Wednesday evening

KATHLEEN, Ga. — A house fire sparked during the thunderstorm that rolled through Wednesday, and Houston County Fire Department was rapidly on scene to battle the blaze.

Around 5 p.m June 7, fire crews responded to an attic fire on the 200 block of Silk Tree Trace. Crews responded to the call within minutes.

Firefighters were on scene for around an hour and a half to ensure the fire was fully extinguished.

While the exact cause of the blaze is under investigation, the department is leaning towards a lightning strike as the most probable option.

When storms roll through the area, results may vary, according to Chief Christopher Stoner.

“It’s sporadic. It depends on the lightning, and things like that. We get a lot of days where we won’t have anything but trees or power lines down. And then we have days like [Wednesday] where it was a very electrical storm, so there’s cloud to ground lightning. In those cases you’ll end up with a house that gets hit.”

Stoner further explained that lightning strike results vary as well: sometimes it may lead to a fire, other times it may only lead to electrical damage.

In this case, the resulting fire was quickly contained, and Stoner commended the department for their performance.

“If the response wasn’t as quick as it was, it certainly could’ve spread and got a lot worse,” Stoner said. “But they did a great job keeping it contained.”

HHJ News