House Fire in Calumet Grove

[spk7951]

According to CFNews13 a house in The Villages was hit by lightning and subsequently destroyed by fire Saturday night.

Lightning sparks fire that destroys home in The Villages (http://www.cfnews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2013/5/19/lightning_sparks_fir.html)

[KathieI]

Wow,,, thank spk... I couldn't find anything on the internet about it. Thanks... so glad the people and cat got out okay!!!

[buggyone]

Sounds if lightning rods might have been a good investment. Think about it!

[LynnDeb]

Sounds if lightning rods might have been a good investment. Think about it!

What if the lightning rods dont get hit??? lightning doesn't know where to go

[renrod]

What if the lightning rods dont get hit??? lightning doesn't know where to go
Ask your neighbors, on each side of your house to get some lightning rods installed.

[LynnDeb]

Ask your neighbors, on each side of your house to get some lightning rods installed.
I havent seen lighthning rods on any house s in this area...

[LynnDeb]

How many people on this site have lightning rods??

[pooh]

We have them and a number of homes on our street are also equipped.

[LynnDeb]

We have them and a number of homes on our street are also equipped.
Do you remember who you used?

[CFrance]

We saw a lightning strike with curls of lightning coming off the strike, and it was the loudest sound we have ever heard. Had to be an explosion, like it hit a transformer, and not just a bolt. Honest, the loudest we have ever heard. Then today over in Wildwood near Winn Dixie, the lights were out in the area. We heard no sirens, though, and this area seemed to be near us in tamarind Grove, not calumet.

My husband has been looking forward to the summer storms. I said You got your storm.

[Newbeginnings]

I have lightning rods, installed when I moved in by A-1 lightning, would not be without, I had a strike when I lived in Minnesota, and it's not going to help if your neighbors have them, if it going to your roof it's not going to jump that far over to the neighbors.

A good explanation from Wikipedia:

A lightning rod (US, AUS) or lightning conductor (UK) is a metal rod or metallic object mounted on top of a building, electrically bonded using a wire or electrical conductor to interface with ground or "earth" through an electrode, engineered to protect the building in the event of lightning strike. If lightning hits the building it will preferentially strike the rod and be conducted to ground through the wire, instead of passing through the building, where it could start a fire or cause electrocution.

Another good article from "How Stuff Works"
HowStuffWorks "Lightning Rod" (http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/natural-disasters/lightning7.htm)

[graciegirl]

If any of you have heard the presentation given by volunteers with NO connection to any lightning rod company, please go and hear it. One of the presenters who calls himself Lightning posts on this forum and writes a column for the POA newsletter.

Our village invited him to speak to us collectively and he and his cohort give a very good power point presentation. They have educated themselves through contact with University of Floridas experts on this issue and they are excellent. They will not tout any installer but will tell you what to watch for from shyster installers.

It is not cheap to have a good lightning rod system in stalled. If I remember correctly it is somewhere around a couple of thousand dollars and we have yet to do it, but of course the recent house destroyed nudges us to get it done. The home destroyed this week makes it eight homes in eight years. There was vacant year and one year had two.

Everyone should start by buying or renting surge protection. Both for the main panel in the garage and individually for all appliances and electrical things.

[Lightning]

What if the lightning rods dont get hit??? lightning doesn't know where to go

Lightning rods do work if they are designed, installed, and maintained according to NFPA 780 the national standard on lightning. Only seek quotes from installers who are listed by UL and the Lightning Protection Institute. Listed installers do not solicit door-to-door. Buyer beware! See the back issues of the POA Bulletin, Lightning Matters columns, found at poa4us.org and posts elsewhere on the Talk of the Villages web site.

[Swampy]

Thanks all for this helpful thread. Marsha and I are closing on our Fernandina home in July, and we will then be very busy getting the house furnished, decorated and fitted with extras like lightening rods. I've saved this thread to my The Villagers Folder in my Retirement Folder (on my computer) in which I've been accumulating useful information from TOTV for over 2 years while we've dreamed of our journey to become FROGS.
Looking at the photos of the house that was struck by lightening and seeing how the heat melted the siding from the house next door, makes me appreciate that it makes sense to have your neighbors' houses on each side protected as well as your own. Heck, our new house has only a 5 foot side-yard between us and our neighbors' side-yards.

Swampy

[Lightning]

What if the lightning rods dont get hit??? lightning doesn't know where to go

Lightning rods have been used for over 250 years. They simply give a potentially disastrous lightning strike a safe path to ground. See Dr. Martin Uman's book, The Art and Science of Lightning Protection in The Villages Library. None of the 8 home destroyed by lighting in the last decade here in The Villages had lightning rods.

[Lightning]

Ask your neighbors, on each side of your house to get some lightning rods installed.

This is one of the myths about lightning we address in our Power Point presentations, Lightning Tips for Villagers. Once a leader starts its journey from the negatively charged thundercloud to ground it is seeking a positive charge that is building up on houses, trees, flag poles, walls, vehicles, or even a blade of grass. It has no idea who has lightning rods and who does not. If a home has lightning rods the stroke will be harmlessly shunted to ground - and if not it has the potential of starting a fire. In 2008 a house without lightning rods was destroyed in Sunset Ridge. The house next door and across the street had lightning rods and did not receive any damage.

[Lightning]

I havent seen lighthning rods on any house s in this area...

There are no official records of homeowners with residential lighting protection systems. They are not required by code and there is no state, county, or local oversite of installers. Therefore this is a buyer be ware market place. My best estimate is there are between 1,500 to 2,000 home with lightning protection.

[golf4me]

There are no official records of homeowners with residential lighting protection systems. They are not required by code and there is no state, county, or local oversite of installers. Therefore this is a buyer be ware market place. My best estimate is there are between 1,500 to 2,000 home with lightning protection.

Lightning. We heard your presentation and you cleared up a lot of misinformation. Thanks for all you do to help your fellow villagers.

[PASteelers]

First and foremost I am thankful this family escaped their burning home. Homes can be rebuilt. Lives lost cannot.
For the neighbors around this home, did it seem like the emergency crews responded quickly? Do the Villages have Red Cross or some organization who offers temporary housing to victims of fire during times like these?
Jan

[TrudyM]

This is one of the myths about lightning we address in our Power Point presentations, Lightning Tips for Villagers. Once a leader starts its journey from the negatively charged thundercloud to ground it is seeking a positive charge that is building up on houses, trees, flag poles, walls, vehicles, or even a blade of grass. It has no idea who has lightning rods and who does not. If a home has lightning rods the stroke will be harmlessly shunted to ground - and if not it has the potential of starting a fire. In 2008 a house without lightning rods was destroyed in Sunset Ridge. The house next door and across the street had lightning rods and did not receive any damage.

Precautions help (and unless I am wrong qualify for an insurance discount.) but if it is going to happen it will. IMHO

When I was a kid our house in New Hampshire caught fire because of lightening and it had lightening rods. Lightening hit the transformer on the pole and a surge traveled in through the telephone and electric wires and melted some the wiring in the house. It caused an explosion that blew the pine paneling (been there for 100 years) off the walls. The phone flew across the room and landed in the kitchen sink while my mom was doing dishes. We all got out as did the quests (It was a B and B )which is what was important.

[samhass]

We have them.

[Lightning]

Precautions help (and unless I am wrong qualify for an insurance discount.) but if it is going to happen it will. IMHO

When I was a kid our house in New Hampshire caught fire because of lightening and it had lightening rods. Lightening hit the transformer on the pole and a surge traveled in through the telephone and electric wires and melted some the wiring in the house. It caused an explosion that blew the pine paneling (been there for 100 years) off the walls. The phone flew across the room and landed in the kitchen sink while my mom was doing dishes. We all got out as did the quests (It was a B and B )which is what was important.

It sounds to me what you experienced was an Indirect Lightning Strike that caused a surge to enter your home via the electric and telephone utilities. If your lightning protection system (lightning rods) were designed, installed and maintained to the national standard on lightning you should have also had Primary and Secondary surge protection on the incoming electrical service and on all downstream appliances and electrical equipment. The lightning rods are to protect against a Direct Lightning Strike.