Long Island Home Burns to Ground After Lightning Strike

PECONIC, NY — A home on Wells Avenue in Peconic burned to the ground Wednesday after a lightning strike to the chimney, according to Southold Fire Chief Peggy Killian.

No one was home at the time of fire; the house was under renovation, neighbors said.

The fire, which broke out at approximately 4:40 p.m., was so fierce that it melted the siding right off the house next door.

"It was hot," Killian said, adding that it took the Southold Fire Department about 20 minutes to knock down the blaze.

Lightning struck the chimney and sent pieces of the chimney flying around the property, she said; a shed behind the house also stood blistered from the heat.

Firefighters rushed to the scene, neighbors Eileen McGuire and John McLane, who live across the street, said.

"I feel terrible," said McGuire, who'd seen flames shooting into the air.

She added that the extension on the newly renovated home had been beautiful. She watched as firefighters doused large boxes of cedar shake shingle meant for the home's exterior.

Tracy Davis, who is renting the home where the siding melted, was home with her son Connor Davis.

Connor said his entire room was glowing orange. He grabbed important papers and anything flammable and ran outside to alert other neighbors.

Tracy said she'd heard a series of loud thunder strikes and then, one particularly loud one. She said the light was so bright from the fire she thought "the sun had come out." She called her husband, who was in New York City, screaming, she said.

Firefighters were still at the scene dousing the smoking shell of the home after the quick-moving storm ended and the sun came out.