Lightning Causes Prospect St. Fire

The was busy Friday evening answering more than a dozen calls as a series of violent thunderstorms swept through the borough.

Just up the street from the Public Safety Complex, a direct lightning strike set the third floor of a residence at 47 Prospect Street ablaze.

Firefighters and police arrived to find visible flames along the roof of a third-floor dormer at the rear of the house.

The department deployed its aerial truck in the driveway and a crew made their way to the roof via the ladder’s bucket to extinguish the fire.

Another crew went to the third floor, physically opening up walls and ceilings to check for hidden pockets of fire.

No additional damage was found, and there were no reported injuries. Residents were able to occupy the house once fire-fighting operations were completed.

The said that during a two-hour period Friday night during the storm, officers responded to 12 burglar alarms, four trees down in the road, two reports of wires down in the road, three fire alarms, one fire, one utility alarm and 12 intersections where the traffic signals were not functional.