Broken Arrow family suffers significant damage after lightning sparks house fire | News

BROKEN ARROW, Okla. — FOX23 has heard about a Broken Arrow family whose home suffered significant damage after a lightning strike ignited a fire that engulfed the entire home.

This happened during last night's storms near Creek Turnpike and County Line Road.

The family said it started with a quiet night watching television when they saw a flash of light and heard a huge bang and thought something had exploded.

The house is now in ruins.

The family is still in shock to see so much damage and to see most of their belongings destroyed, so they asked that their faces not be shown.

A flash of light and a clap of thunder lead to a Broken Arrow home being struck by lightning and an attic fire that spans the length of the family's home.

“It was so loud it was the craziest noise I have ever heard in my life,” one of the family members said.

The family jumped up and ran outside, still trying to figure out what had happened.

Firefighters from across the street rushed to the scene and began battling the fire, which broke out in the home's attic.

“Every time they let us back in, we were like in water. The ceiling hadn't fallen yet, but we knew it was about to,” said one of the members of the family.

The waterlogged ceiling had to be breached to allow the water to drain safely, causing even more damage.

“We had a big picture of a drawing of New Orleans where we got married. They gave it to me and started giving me family photos. So I knew the interior had to be pretty bad .They expected it to be uninhabitable.” » said one of the owners.

However, the family is counting their blessings.

Their insurance company is putting the family up in a hotel for the next few weeks until the cleanup is complete.

They're just happy that everyone, including the family's dogs and cats, got out safely and that they all have the chance to start again.

“You don’t think it’s going to happen to you, you don’t think it’s going to happen to you,” one of the family members said.

The family was busy Wednesday afternoon, busy packing up what they could salvage.