Lee Buchanan
editor@thefranklinpress.com
A lightning strike ignited a fire that burned a home on Nickajack Road to the ground early Tuesday morning.
Firefighters responded to the report of a fire at 1877 Nickajack Road about 2 a.m. Tuesday. When they arrived, the two-story structure was engulfed in flames.
The man and woman living in the house escaped unhurt.
Jimmy Teem, Macon County fire marshal, said the house was apparently struck by lightning as intense thunderstorms swept across Macon County.
“There’s a huge pine tree in behind this house, and it exploded,” Teem said. “That tree is 30 yards from the house, and it probably threw debris 60 yards. It may have run through the roots of that tree and made contact with the house. I did find guttering that had holes in it where the lightning hit.”
Teem said that house fires sparked by lightning strikes are fairly common.
“You’ve always got that chance in a lightning storm,” Teem said. “In the last 10 years we’ve probably had six or seven houses that caught on fire after being hit by lightning.”
Teem said firefighters were back on the scene at about 10 a.m. Tuesday.
“They’re back up there right now because it rekindled,” he said. “They’re having a hard time getting that put out.”
Cullasaja Fire and Rescue responded to the blaze, with mutual aid from the Franklin and Clarks Chapel fire departments. Crews from Mountain Valley and Cowee fire departments were also called in to help.