House Fire After Lightning Strike

In the evening of Tuesday, April 21, 2009 a severe band of thunderstorms hit the Honey Brook area causing multiple lightning strikes. One of those strikes hit a tree to the rear of a home on Walnut Street in Honey Brook Borough. The strike caused the tree to explode sending large and small pieces of wood through the windows of at least three homes. The path of electricity from the bolt went underground through a root of the tree into a garage, once in the garage it traveled all throughout the electric wires inside then traveled through the underground service line into the basement of the home and caused severe damage to the electrical service and caused a fire in the corner of the basement. The homeowner was home at the time and ran next door to her neighbor Barry Messner, Deputy Chief of the Honey Brook Fire Company, to tell him that there was fire in her basement. Deputy Messner went to her home and noticed fire through a basement window. He then ran back to his home and retrieved a fire extinguisher and reported the house fire to the Chester County Fire Board, then went to the basement and made the hit on the fire with the extinguisher. The assignment was dispatched and Engine 33-1 quickly made the response with 6 personnel in 3 minutes.Chief 33 made the response and added Ladder 69 to the assignment. Upon arrival the Engine 1's crew spit with 2 members making entry to the basement, which now had a signifigant smoke condition, and finished extinguishing the fire and searched for any remaining fire. The other members of the crew set up fans to ventilate the home and searched the other floors of the house for any hidden fire. Engine 33-5 arrived and its crew assisted with operations and secured power to the home by pulling the electric meter. Engine 33-2 arrived and stood by at the hydrant. Rescue 33 staged and sent its crew to the scene to the manpower pool. Ambulance 33-1 and crew stood by in case of any injuries while Traffic 33 and 33 fire police blocked off the area. 33 officers checked the garage which also had a smoke condition while other 33 crews went house to house in the immediate area to check for any emergencies caused by the lightning, power surge, or flying debris. Ladder 69 arrived and staged before being re-assigned to the stand-by at Station 33. Phone, electric, and cable service to various homes in the area were knocked out until being restored over the next couple of days. Units operated for just under 2 hours before returning.

A total of 41 volunteers showed up for the call.