04-06-2025
Fire erupts on roof of Riverside County home after lightning strike
The roof of a Riverside County home erupted in flames after it was struck by lightning Tuesday afternoon.
Firefighters were dispatched to the scene near the intersection of Peridot Avenue and Moonstone Street in Hemet just after 5:30 p.m.
A photojournalist with Hemet Eye News reported that the homeowner and his neighbor grabbed garden hoses and attempted to douse the flames while crews with the Hemet Fire Department were enroute to the home.
'Lightning struck [the roof],' a woman who lives next to the home said. 'I saw the flash on the street when I was in the garage and then I smelled something burning.'
In footage of the firefight, at least three fire engines responded to the scene, where a crew of about a half dozen firefighters, four of them at the peak of the tiled roof, worked with a chainsaw and other tools to gain access to and extinguish the flames.
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Hemet Fire Department Battalion Chief Laura Astell said when they arrived on scene it appeared that they did have a positive lightning strike.
'We peeled back the tile and extinguished the fire and there was no interior fire or smoke damage to the home,' she said.
The battalion chief added that four engines and a squad responded to the scene and that it's highly unusual that they receive credible reports of lightning strikes that lead to fires.
'We suspected it based on the conditions we saw when we arrived on scene and confirmed once we got onto the area.'
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