Lightning causes $200,000 damage to northwest home

A lightning strike Sunday night started a fire that caused about $200,000 in damage to a Las Vegas home.

Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said a woman was home alone about 7:45 p.m. when she heard a loud "crack" she knew to be lightning.

A few seconds later the smoke alarms activated in her home, located at 8124 W. Gilmore Ave., near Buffalo Drive and Alexander Road.

The woman smelled smoke and tried to call 911, but the phone did not work, Szymanski said. She ran to a neighbor's house, but several neighbors had already called 911 by then, he said.

Firefighters arrived and tried to fight the fire from within the home until the roof caved in, he said. It took about 30 minutes for firefighters to extinguish the blaze, which caused significant damage to the inside of the home, he said.

Bits of ash were scattered on the driveway and sidewalk Monday afternoon. The top of the garage was scorched and the garage door had been replaced with planks of wood. The roof was caved in as if a giant bite was taken out of the top of the home.

Neighbor Joyce White lives down the road from the home and said she was taking her trash out when she heard the lightning strike.

Then she heard the sirens.

"Flames were shooting up, and I saw flames coming out of the top of the garage," White said. "Firefighters were hooking the water lines up. The smoke was coming out up above in big huge plumes. The whole thing just caved in."

White said the garage door fell on the homeowner's car in the driveway after the roof collapsed.

The most recent time a house was damaged by lightning in the valley was Aug. 27, 2007, when $50,000 in damage was caused to a home, Szymanski said.

Contact reporter Mike Blasky at mblasky@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283. Contact reporter Kristi Jourdan at kjourdan@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279.