photo by Michael Rodgers

This bedroom at the home of Carl and Maxine Sikes was damaged by fire, water and smoke on Thursday morning.

Lightning strike causes house fire

By Michael Rodgers (Contact) | Greenville Advocate

Published Friday, April 9, 2010

A house on the Troy Highway suffered fire and heavy smoke damage on Thursday morning after a lightning strike ignited the blaze.

Maxine Sikes, one of the residents of the house, had just returned home when she found out there had been a lightning strike, and she noticed that there was smoke rising from part of the roof.

“I said, come on out, there’s smoke up there,” Sikes said.

Also at home were her husband, Carl Sikes, and their assistant Annette Bodiford.

“We called 911, but the top of the house was out of hand by then,” she said.

All three made it out of the home safely, but Luverne assistant fire chief W.A. Neal said it was a tough fire to fight, mostly because of the amount of smoke that was present.

“We had to call for a lot of manpower,” he said. “The attic and the roof were the most heavily damaged.”

Firefighters from Luverne, Goshen, Glenwood, Rutledge, Honoraville, Brantley and NEC responded.

While the top areas of the house suffered fire damage, much of the rest of the house sustained heavy smoke and water damage.

“Most everything is going to have to be replaced,” said Sikes.

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