Lightning strike destroys Northern California home

(FOX40.COM) — A Northern California home recently went up in flames after it was believed to be struck by lightning.

Around 7 p.m. on Saturday, residents of the City Castle Mobile Park in Placer County panicked as they witnessed a neighbor’s home be consumed by fire. They said a bright flash was followed by a loud noise before the catastrophe.

“The lightning was just crazy all around,” said neighbor, Terri Potter. “It was super intense-boom. I was thinking that something had hit my house. I just kind of watched and within probably 10 minutes – it go from smoke to flame and the fire department showed up.”

The fire destroyed the mobile home. The only thing left behind were pieces of furniture and some personal items. A day after the fire, the smell of the burning home still lingered.

The weekend weather conditions led to the perfect storm.

“Yesterday, we had just the right situation for some isolated areas to get more abundant lightning,” Craig Shoemaker of the National Weather Service said. “Because you might notice that we had a lot of small hail yesterday. That small hail essentially was rubbing together up in the clouds, causing a lot of friction, a lot of charge.”

He said about 40-50 cloud-to-ground lighting strikes were reported in Placer County during Saturday’s storm.

“It’s rare for us to get thunderstorms that have that amount of cloud to ground lightning,” Shoemaker said.

A woman and her two dogs were inside of the mobile home when it caught fire. She said she is doing okay and hopes to rebuild and move back into her home.

Newcastle Fire Protection District Battalion Chief said the cause of the fire is under investigation, but they believe a lighting strike started it all.

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