Crime & Safety

Lighting Sparks Fire at Eden Prairie Home

Although damage was extensive, the people inside were able to escape safely.

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Lighting is thought to have caused a fire at an Eden Prairie home. A homeowner at the 10800 block of Leaping Deer Lane heard a lightning strike at 2:20 a.m. but didn’t find any damage, KARE 11 reported. She and her daughter awoke at 4 a.m. to the smell of fire and found their entire roof in flames.

They were able to escape safely with their two cats, but damage was extensive.

Xcel Energy reported that hundreds of people in the Eden Prairie area lost power following the high winds, heavy rain and hail early Friday morning.

The biggest outage nearby was 2,820 customers in Eden Prairie. That outage started at 3:38 a.m. Crews are still assessing the situation to determine when they can restore power.

Find out what's happening in Eden Prairiefor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Xcel released the following statement:

"A severe band of thunderstorms moved through Minnesota early Friday morning, June 21. The storm caused significant damage to our electric system, including a number of downed poles and power lines. Outages are scattered throughout the state, with approximately 130,000 customers without power at this time. We are currently assessing the damages and no restoration time is yet available. Additional crews from the North and South Dakota and other utilities have been coordinated to assist with restoration efforts. Please stay away from downed power lines and always assume a downed wire is energized and therefore dangerous. Report downed power lines to Xcel Energy at 1-800-895-1999 or call 9-1-1."

A chance of showers and thunderstorms continues throughout much of the day, according to the National Weather Service.

Find out what's happening in Eden Prairiefor free with the latest updates from Patch.




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