The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Lucky escape after lightning explosion
AN ANGUS family had an amazing escape yesterday after a lightning strike sparked a raging blaze in their rural home.
As freak storms whipped up across the country, lightning struck the Croftsmuir Steading B&B just before noon.
Stunned B&B co-owner Anne Law and her grandson Alex were inside when they heard an explosion and saw part of the chimney stack fly into the garden.
All the electricity at the two-storey farmhouse also went off during the torrential downpour and they ran upstairs to investigate.
The smoke alarms had activated and they found a fierce fire had broken out in the roof space of the Carmyllie property.
With the phone line down, Alex, 14, called 999 on his mobile. They then got out of the building and waited in the driveway until fire crews from Arbroath and Dundee arrived on the scene. Eight firefighters wearing breathing apparatus then extinguished the blaze using two hosereel jets.
The fire damaged 40% of the roof space but their efforts stopped it from spreading even further.
FIREFIGHTERS REMAINED on scene until late afternoon to make the building secure after fears were raised about the safety of the chimney stack.
Mrs Law’s husband Gordon was visiting a friend in Arbroath when he got a call to say the couple’s B&B was ablaze.
He told The Courier: “The damage is pretty extreme in one section of the house.
“The upstairs lounge was pretty badly damaged. It could have been much worse had it not been for the actions of the firefighters.
“They were very professional and did a great job. My wife and my grandson were in the house at the time but luckily nobody was hurt. We’re obviously very upset because the property was only built in 2007.
“Luckily all our guests who had been staying had also left before it happened.”
Mr Law said it is likely the couple will now have to stay with family until the damage is repaired. They will also have to cancel some bookings and will today be speaking again with the insurance assessors.
He said his wife and grandson had been left in shock following their ordeal but were now bearing up well.
Scott Symon, station manager at Blackness Road in Dundee, told The Courier it could have been even worse.
“I’ve been a firefighter for 17 years and this is the first lightning strike I’ve been involved in. They are not that common but they do happen. Access to the roof space was difficult but the crews worked extremely well. There was a lot of smoke but they worked very hard to keep the fire confined to the roof space.
“There was damage to 40% of the roof space and a bit of smoke and water damage below but it could have been much worse.
“Although the main priority was to tackle the fire, our crews also worked to save as much furniture as they could.”
Mr Symon also praised the actions of Mrs Law and Alex for raising the alarm quickly and getting out of the property.
A spokesman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: “The call came in at 11.44am reporting a fire in a dwelling at Carmyllie. It was a two storey farm house on fire. The stop message came in at 1.19pm.”