Lightning caused Park Falls fire

On the morning of Aug. 27, Price County Emergency Communications Center paged the Park Falls Fire Department, Park Falls Area Ambulance Service and Park Falls Police Department regarding a report that lightning had struck the garage of a home with smoke coming from the structure. The homeowner did not appear to be home, and the incident was reported by a neighbor.

Park Falls Police Officer Robert Zoubek arrived at the scene and brought the squad fire extinguisher to the detached garage, according to his report. The neighbor who reported the fire was also on scene and mentioned that at the time of the lighting strike a pipe burst in his basement.

There was a moderate amount of smoke coming from the garage but no flames, according to the report. It was possible that flames were smoldering in the ceiling or soffit area.

Zoubek observed damage to the north side of the detached garage including scorch marks and damage to the wall, soffit, and fascia and likely unseen burn damage. There was also a large crater in the ground apparently from the lightning strike, which resulted in debris in various directions, cracking the windshield of a nearby parked RV.

There was also a divot in the concrete at the right corner of the overhead garage door, along with damage to the frame and trim causing the door to no longer raise up, according to the report. To the right of the garage there was damage to the rain gutter where it was blown away from the home, with scorching to the soffit. On the south side of the garage there was additional damage to the middle soffit area, possibly from the fire department attempting to locate any active flames or smoldering.

Zoubek requested county dispatch to contact Xcel Energy, Inc. to have technicians respond to the home. He noted an odor of natural gas in the area behind the home and notified the firefighters on scene. He also requested efforts to locate the owner who was contacted and about 45 minutes away.

Zoubek requested that Xcel Energy shut off the water due to the neighbor’s report of burst pipes. Park Falls Public Works Supervisor Bill Hoffman followed up with the homeowner.

Zoubek stayed on scene until firefighting units started to depart at approximately 10:10 a.m.