The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Lightning ordeal
A Fife couple tell of their ordeal after their home was struck by lightning yesterday and gutted by the subsequent fire.
A FIFE couple and their family had a dramatic escape yesterday when their house was almost completely destroyed by fire after being struck by lightning.
The home belonging to Douglas Hall, 67, and his wife Maureen was gutted after the hillside property atA mulree, Kingsmill, Kennoway, was struck by lightning during a violent thunder storm around 10.30am.
The fire service did their best to save the recently renovated bungalow but as the blaze took hold, firefighters had to be withdrawn shortly before the roof collapsed.
Speaking from his garden as firefighters continued dampening down the ruins of his home, Mr Hall, a retired insurance manager, told The Courier how the drama unfolded during the ferocious 20-minute storm.
He said: “I’ve got one of these half-stable doors and was hanging out. I was fascinated by the lightning. There was this thunderbolt and the whole house shook and I thought ‘Oh yah dancer!’.
“I’d been back in the house for two or three minutes when I heard what sounded like an explosion outside. It was like a light bulb flashing.”
Mr Hall had been joined in the house five minutes earlier by his daughter Claire, 40, and her children Jack, who turns 12 today, and Emily, nine, who live in a recently constructed bungalow to the rear of his own house.
They had been watching news of the royal baby on TV when they joined him after their TV jumped and they were “terrified” by the thunderstorm.
Mr Hall continued: “A fter the big flash, I said to my daughter I could smell smoke. She went outside to check the roof and said she could see smoke.
“I opened the attic slightly and saw sparks and smoke. I shouted for everyone to get out.”
Mr Hall, who has two cats and a poodle called Guinness, said the animals had been terrified during the storm. But with the help of his brave grandson Jack, they managed to get them and everyone else out quickly and safely.
He added: “The flames were coming through the roof when the fire brigade arrived and the roof collapsed shortly after.
“We’ve lived here since 2000 and have lost our clothes, computer, 40 years of photographs, our brand new kitchen — the lot. But the main thing is no one was injured.
“We’re lucky we can now stay with my daughter out the back.”
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service watch manager A lan Fortune toldThe Courier that five fire appliances had been in attendance at the height of the blaze.
He said that at one point a team wearing breathing apparatus had to be withdrawn due to the severity of the fire.
Scottish Power teams were also at the property to make the power cable safe.