[Donna]

I am sick to my stomach thinking of those poor people coming home, to find no house..

I could not even imagine, the devastation they are feeling..What do they do?? Every memory gone in a flash, nothing but the clothes they are wearing..OMG..Thank God they were not there..

I wish them all God's Blessings during this very difficult time..Lets all keep them in our prayers..

[Best Mom]

The Sun has a front page article. It says the couple were home but exited and watched it burn from their front yard. Despite losing their home, they felt sorry for their friend, Mr Thompson. Mr Thompson lost his beloved classic car which was stored in their garage.

The article has many pictures and goes on two pages. There were many more details given.
It is all very sad. My prayers go out to those people.

[samhass]

We had lightning rods installed all over the house. The roof rods are all copper/copper while the lanai is aluminum/aluminun (rod to grounding wire). Whole house surge went in at the same time. The entire job was inspected by a UL underwriter inspector. We felt this was an important safeguard for the house. Some say it's just baloney. It ran around 3K for everything. We tried to lightning protect the huge oak in our yard and hired an arborist to come up from Plant City to inspect it. He thought the tree was dying and advised not putting rods in it. We called Eric Knudson of TV to look at it. He says it's not dying. The jury is out on that. We had a crew come in and spend a day taking out old wood and moss in an attempt to lighten the load on the tree. We probably will not get lightening protection put on the tree. As for the house, I will never regret getting the rods put on the roof. Even our satellite dish has a rod on it. Considering the gas lines in the attic, I feel a little safer.

[redwitch]

I'm just grateful no one was injured. The Wrobels have a wonderful attitude about their loss. Even so, I feel so very bad for them. To lose your life's memories in just a few minutes is so very painful.

Sam, I think you've done the right thing in protecting your home in such a manner. It may be a tad overboard to some, but just the peace of mind has got to make it totally worthwhile. Before moving here, I took pictures of many objects that were precious to me because of their memories. I've decided I'm making a copy of all my disks of photos and storing them with my documents in a fireproof box. That way, if something does happen, I'll still have the important things.

[ejp52]

It is very sad to lose all your dreams and possessions,in such a tragic manner,but fortunately they were able to get out. They can rebuild and go on,thankfully they weren't asleep and unable to react fast and get out.
Running the gas lines in the ceiling is strange,I wonder why they weren't placed in the ground like up North,would have been much safer,its rather unnerving to know they are exposed in the roof. :dontknow:

[scottke]

Are gas lines in everyone's roof or just the premier homes? That's very scary. Those poor people.

[travelstiles]

This is a very sad story, and we are relieved that no one was injured.
Recently two of our neighbors had lightning/grounding rods installed on their roofs (ran about $2500 I think). I haven't seen them on any of the buildings owned by The Villages, such as the rec centers, etc., and wonder how effective they would be in a really powerful direct hit like the one last night?
Does anyone have professional knowledge or experience with this, and is there anything else that can be done to protect the gas lines in the attic from such a strike?

[tucson]

The fire dept. told me not to put lightning rods on my house. They said it'll attract the lightning.

[MSNPA]

My husband told me today he is pretty sure the gas lines are in the attics/roofs on all houses that have gas. This is scary. The storm last evening was bad. I feel so sorry for this couple who lost their house and all their possessions. This tragedy makes me realize once again you just never know when something can happen.

[The Gray Hog]

Thankfully, there are many homes all electric in TV. We purchased one in Hadley.

[ouma1938]

My heart goes out to the poor people who lost their home and all those memories. I am still going to move to TV whenever we sell the house but I do worry about lightening strikes. And my biggest fear is something like that happening and not being there to get my pets out. I just couldn't bear it. I pray the family in Ponciana didn't have pets in the house.

[barb1191]

We have vaulted ceilings throughout our patio villa, and gas. Where would the gas line be located if there's no attic?

So devastating for the family to see their home and everything dissolve into ashes before their eyes. Thank goodness nobody was hurt. One consolation is that fortunately they live in a community where they will be offered all kinds of help from caring compassionate people in TV.

barb

[SteveFromNY]

Originally Posted by tucson

The fire dept. told me not to put lightning rods on my house. They said it'll attract the lightning.

Go look at the fire house on Buena Vista and Bonita. There is a lightning protection system installed on that building. Multiple rods on the side buildings and on the center structure.
On the corner of Morse & Bonita is an electric substation, also protected by lightning rods.
Benjamin Franklin invented the concept 250 years ago, and they have been in use since.
Google lightning rods and check wikipedia for information. Ask the fireman why they are on the fire house.
The objective is to route the lightning around the structure via rods and wires into the ground.
All skyscrapers have heavy duty lightning protection systems.
I was pretty unconvinced they worked until I did this little bit of research. Even if they do not prevent strikes, they can help route the charge around your roof and into the ground.
Part of the reason for the debate is the simple fact that it is VERY difficult to do controlled tests with a substance as unpredictable as lightning.
As a coincidental aside, the next door neighbor of the house that was hit yesterday has rods. If they really attract the lightning why did the house that got hit get hit?
I think am going to have them installed.

[Best Mom]

I remember about 3 years ago that a large house in here was struck by lightning. It also turned into a fire. That house had lightning rods on the both ends of the house but the lightning struck in the middle of the roof.

[samhass]

We have multiple rods all over the roof. I'm guessing there is one about every eight feet...including the middle.