Watertown house fire sparked by apparent lightning strike
WATERTOWN - A fire at a home on North Beacon Street in Watertown was apparently sparked by a lightning strike as severe storms moved across the state. Flames were shooting out of a window on the top floor of the home Friday afternoon.
All four family members and a dog got out and firefighters put out the flames almost as quickly as they started. Firefighters believe the home is a total loss.
Investigators are working to determine what caused the fire, but firefighters and neighbors believe it was related to the storm.
The storm, smoke and smell brought neighbors from blocks away to see what had happened.
"We live a couple blocks behind and the lightning and the thunder was massive," said Melina Georgantas. "We could smell it in our house that something was burning. We just came to check it out, we thought our house was on fire."
The lightning caused trouble in Millbury too. A home on Greenwood Street caught fire as the same storm passed through.
The storm brought not only lightning, but heavy rain and gusty winds.
David Nefussy and his wife thought they had just lost power in their Natick home, but in their bedroom, they found cracks in the ceiling.
"We heard a big bang. The tree fell. We saw a branch and we thought everything was fine," said Nefussy.
The massive blow was caused by a falling tree in the storm.
"All of a sudden I heard stuff and I just noticed oh my god you could see water coming down," Nefussy said.
Severe thunderstorm warnings were issued across most of central and eastern Massachusetts on Friday.