A lightning strike ruptured a gas line and set a home on fire in Germantown

Ten fire departments responded to Germantown to extinguish multiple fires caused by lightning Monday night.

Lighting caused a major natural gas leak and two Germantown homes were evacuated just after 10 p.m., said Germantown Fire Chief John Delain.

Delain said lightning struck a tree near the corner of Starlite Drive and Pilgrim Road, causing a gas main to rupture and then rupture a nearby gas meter.

When the fire department arrived, a neighbor had extinguished the fire near the tree, but there was a strong natural gas odor and the ground near the tree was "erupting with natural gas," according to a news release from the Germantown Fire Department. The neighbor told the fire department that a home about eight houses away was on fire.

Fire crews responded to that residence, at Venus Court and Moonlite Drive, where a gas meter next to the home had blown apart and caught fire.

Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire, but could not immediately shut off the gas. According to the department's release, the odor could be smelled for several blocks.

The fire department worked for three hours before turning over the situation to We Energies, according to the release.

The people who were evacuated from their homes — one from the home which was on fire and the other due to concerns of the gas leak — were able to return an hour later, Delain said.

Delain said the house that caught fire just had damage to the outside paint, and there was essentially no damage done to the home. "Thank goodness the house was made of stone," he said.

He added, "The safest place to be when there is lightning is inside."

The Germantown Fire Department was assisted by the Menomonee Falls, Grafton, Hartford, Jackson, Lisbon, Southern Ozaukee, West Bend and Slinger Fire Departments, We Energies and the Richfield Volunteer Fire Co.

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Cathy Kozlowicz can be reached at 262-361-9132 or cathy.kozlowicz@jrn.com. Follow her on X at @kozlowicz_cathy.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: A lightning strike ruptured a gas line and set a home on fire in Germantown