Friday house fire caused by lightning

A house fire Friday night on Manning Gin Rd. was reportedly caused by lightning, according to Barrow County EMS officials.

The fire was reported at 10:30 p.m.

“Upon arrival, firefighters found smoke coming from the basement of the home,” said Lieutenant Rob Nowakowski. “After entering the structure, firefighters found they could not safely fight fire from inside, and the fire was quickly extinguished from outside."

No injuries were reported. The American Red Cross was on scene to assist the displaced occupants.

The cause of the fire was determined to be a lightning strike.

“We are entering the time of year when storms are becoming more frequent,” stated Lieutenant Nowakowski. “Everyone needs to be aware when thunderstorms are in the area. Lightning is dangerous, and many of the recent storms have contained large amounts of cloud to ground lightning.”