Menu
Lightning blamed in house fire
McCOOK, Neb. -- Wicked lightning that struck a house in McCook Friday evening hung around to toss more lightning bolts over the heads of the firefighters who battled the blaze it started.
The summer storm with its lightning, thunder, rain, hail and wind raged as City of McCook and Red Willow Western firefighters worked to extinguish the fire that had a head start on them when it was reported about 7 p.m. by neighbors and passersby.
As difficult as the fire was to fight Friday night -- tucked into hiding places in the attic and eaves of the older house -- it started again Saturday night.
In a press release after both fires, McCook Fire Chief Marc Harpham said the 1 1/2-story house, at 805 W. First, is a total loss. The 106-year-old house is owned by Sheri Bishop of McCook. Harpham estimated the loss of house and contents at $85,000.
Firefighters and law enforcement officers reported heavy smoke and fire upon their arrival on the scene Friday. Harpham said his firefighters were able to fight the fire from the inside until the structure became too unstable and he moved everyone outside for an exterior attack.
Harpham said the initial investigation determined that lightning struck the house on the south side and the fire it started went unnoticed for quite some time, allowing it to spread into the upstairs and into areas difficult to reach with water. As firefighters worked, the roof became unstable because rafters had burned out underneath, and ceilings inside fell in because of fire damage and the weight of water.
Harpham said his firefighting and ambulance manpower was stretched over the structure fire, a car accident south of McCook with a car upside down in rainwater and another ambulance call inside town. "Thanks to the response and assistance that we had from the Red Willow Western Rural Fire Department, we were able to continue to aggressively fight the structure fire," Harpham said.
Friday, firefighters were on the scene for 3 1/2 hours making sure that the fire was extinguished, Harpham said. They responded again a few hours later to reports of more smoke, and then firefighters and law enforcement officers performed frequent drive-by inspections during the day Saturday. The last drive-by, he said, was about 40 minutes before a fire was reported again, about 9:30 p.m., Saturday.
Harpham said flames were visible from the south part of the roof when his firefighters and trucks arrived. They used hoses from the ladder truck and a ground monitor to extinguish the fire.
Fighting these fires presented some unique challenges, Harpham said, starting with the head start that it got on the upper floor and into the attic before neighbors spotted smoke and flames. "Once this happens, it creates several small fires in confined spaces that makes it difficult to locate and extinguish," he said.
The normal procedure for fighting these hidden fires is to gain access from the roof and/or from the interior, he explained. Because of the instability of the structure during and after the first fire, both routes were blocked. "These factors limited our ability to get a complete extinguishment," without having to monitor the structure and watch for flare-ups and rekindling of the fire, he said.
"Obviously, in this fire, both means were inaccessible due to the additional risks they placed on our firefighters," Harpham said. "The number one priority on all fires is life safety. This includes the lives of the homeowners or residents, the lives of the firefighters and the lives of the public within the area of the fire."
Firefighters and law enforcement personnel continue to monitor the fire scene for hot spots. It has been marked with "No Trespassing" signs.