Lightning strike sets Nolensville home on fire, sends 4 firefighters to hospital

A lightning strike during the storm Tuesday night set a Nolensville home on fire and sent four firefighters to the hospital.

Nolensville Fire says three firefighters received burns, while another inhaled too much smoke.

"We had zero visibility, there was lots of heavy, black smoke," remembered Lieutenant Daron Standifird, who was one of the men burned at the home on Nolenmeade Place.

"We were probably only up in that environment for 3-5 seconds before we made it down, and it was enough to send all of us to the hospital," he said.

They're all back home and okay, and the family who lives here got out in time.

But, if the firemen were only inside for less than 10 minutes, why was it so severe?

Nolensville Fire Assistant Chief and Fire Marshal Matthew Lupo says a modern home design, like a multi-room attic, created an issue with finding the source of the fire.

"While they're looking at one spot, the fire's actually going in another spot," Lupo said, pointing to two different areas of the attic.

"What that creates for us is called void spaces," added Standifird. "So a void space is a part of an attic...that's behind the drywall that fire could be that's hard to get to, because you'd have to break through the drywall to get there."

He says the thick smoke was also a problem, made worse when materials like less dense wood, synthetics, and plastic, burn. They're all materials often used to build or furnish modern homes, but they catch fire quickly, spread fire faster, and make smoke and visibility worse.

"It's certainly decreasing the amount of time you have to get water in the correct place to cool it down, it's decreasing the amount of time you have for occupants to get out," explained Standifird.

While he says these issues aren't specific to this home, or this neighborhood, it is a trend that's growing.

Even so, he's proud of how his team is confronting the ever-changing challenges.

"That fire event that we only spent a few seconds in is powerful enough to cause much more serious damage," he said. "I'm very thankful we all found our way out in just a few seconds, and that the outcome was not worse."

While the Nolensville fire department says they plan to study new homes and prepare for instances such as these, they urge you to make sure you have a smoke alarm, emergency plan and sprinkler in your home to keep you safe.

Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at nikki.hauser@newschannel5.com.