Several homes in Montgomery County, Maryland, were struck by lightning Thursday night — displacing two families due to the fires — as wild weather moved through the area and lit up the skies.
Around 75 firefighters were dispatched to a single family home on Lynwood Farm Court off Frederick Road in Germantown for reports of a fire ignited by a lightning strike around 7:45 p.m., according to Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service spokesman Pete Piringer.
The family was home at the time, but they were all able to evacuate without any injuries. Piringer said the home sustained around $50,000 in damages. The family had just moved in the home recently.
Update (~745p) 25300 Lynwood Farm Court, Hyattstown, large single-family home, struck by lightning, damage est $50k, family of 4 home at time, they got out & called 911, no injury, NOTE: another home several houses away was also struck by lightning, no fire damage pic.twitter.com/Q35dZpSdZc
— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) August 23, 2019
Piringer said there were many reports of other homes struck by lightning in the vicinity, but no other ones caught on fire. There were collisions, wires down and light poles on fire within the hour.
At around 8:45 p.m. another fire was reported on Cinnabar Court in the area of Montgomery Village. It was a single family home that was struck by lightning and caught on fire. Piringer said the lightning ignited a portion of the gas meter.
“It was a pretty spectacular storm; heavy rain lots of lightning,” Piringer said.
