Severe Storms Lead To Fire, Downed Wires In Tewksbury

TEWKSBURY, MA — Severe storms over the weekend led to significant damage and a house fire. The fire may have been related to a lightning strike.

A house fire was reported on Maple Street at around 2:50 p.m. on Friday. The fire was contained to the attic area "due to the quick action taken by the responding companies," Fire Chief Joseph Kearns wrote in an email to Patch.

Fire investigators conducted an investigation and it is believed lightning "may have caused a primary power line to be downed directly in front of the house." It is suspected this caused a power surge in the house resulting in the attic fire.

"During this fire we had to respond to approximately 19 other calls seeking assistance all within a 60-minute time period, with the help of members who were called back into work and the day staff we were able to address all calls," Kearns wrote. "The dispatch center did an unbelievable job handling all these calls coming in simultaneously."

The Northern Middlesex Regional Emergency Communications Center was "inundated" with calls across town, according to the Tewksbury Fire Department. Merrimack Valley Relief provided "much needed rehab on a hot humid afternoon."

The storms also resulted in live wires being downed. Police wrote in a post Saturday that wires were down at Winter Lane, Maple Street, and Foster Road.

The rough weather isn't expected to let up either. A flood watch was issued for much of eastern Massachusetts on Monday, with another round of strong storms expected.

See related: Flood Watch In MA With Up To 3 Inches Of Rain Expected