South Columbia apartment fire caused by lightning strike

Tuesday, June 10, 2008 | 6:52 p.m. CDT; updated 2:39 p.m. CST, Monday, March 1, 2010
BY Kourtney Geers

COLUMBIA — Fire officials have confirmed that a lightning strike was the cause of an attic fire on Saturday, May 31, a press release from the Columbia Fire Department stated.

Firefighters were called to the south Columbia apartments in the 2100 block of Cherry Hill Drive at 2 a.m.

The cause was originally suspected to be electrical problems or a lightning strike to the roof.

Tenants told firefighters that they had possibly heard a lightning strike during a thunderstorm around 7:30 p.m. on May 30. An investigation into the cause of the fire included the mapping of lightning, which displayed a strike at 7:38 p.m., the release stated.

The mapping determined that the latitude and longitude of the strike matched that of the building as well.

The fire originated in the attic area of the two-story apartment complex. It took 45 minutes for the firefighters to control.

No one was injured.


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