FAYETTEVILLE -- A firefighter spent Monday night in the hospital after being injured fighting a house fire caused by lightning, officials said.
Firefighter Corey Williams was released from Washington Regional Medical Center on Tuesday after being treated for fluid in his lungs. He was exposed to thick smoke during a house fire at 10:45 a.m. Monday at 2315 E. Sweetbriar Drive, said Battalion Chief Mauro Campos, a department spokesman.
Two adults and three children were home when a lightning strike near or on their home ignited the house, Campos said. One of the family's dogs died in the blaze, he said.
No one else was hurt, Campos said. The family escaped with three dogs but could not find two cats, he said.
Campos said the home is likely a loss. The fire rekindled later Monday afternoon, and firefighters put the blaze out again, he said.
The 2,365-square-foot home, owned by John Dunn, is valued at $191,700, Washington County property records show. Campos said the family living in the home owned it.
The American Red Cross is helping the family, he said.
The home is one of two fires thought to have started from lightning strikes in Washington County, officials said Tuesday.
Another house fire near the Wedington area may have been caused by lightning, said John Luther, county emergency management department director. The fire happened around the same time as the storm, he said.
Further information on that fire wasn't available Tuesday.
NW News on 07/27/2016