A home caught fire in the 3400 block of Scotch Drive in northeast Raleigh around 6 p.m. Wednesday. Fifteen firefighters and six trucks were called to the scene.
"It was caused by lightning," said Division Chief Peter Brock, Raleigh Fire Department. "We had a thunderstorm that came over the area and lightening struck the house."
A father, his two children and their two dogs were inside when lightning struck the roof.
"The first arriving officer didn't see any fire," Chief Brock added. "It just had a lot of dense smoke…coming out of the gable ends."
In addition to the Raleigh Fire Department, the New Hope Fire Department assisted under an automatic aid agreement.
The man who lives nearby says he smelled smoke and initially thought the claps he heard came from a tree snapping. A warning from a neighbor, who was beating on the door, prompted the family to evacuate.
"The attic has a lot of fire damage in it and the second and first floor has some water damage," Brock continued.
And in Orange County, storms knocked over a tree onto Highway 70 west.
"I was driving down the road and that tree started falling, and before I could, I couldn't get out of the way in time," motorist Fannie Lockhart said. "It fell on my car."
Lockhart was not injured.
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