This is why EVERYONE should have a home inventory...because you just NEVER know...
Lightning burns upscale home in Castle Hills
By DAN EAKIN, Staff Writer
(Created: Friday, July 31, 2009 5:08 PM CDT)
An upscale home in Castle Hills was left in shambles after being struck by lightning during a thunderstorm before daylight Thursday.
Lewisville and Castle Hills residents were awakened to loud thunder and striking lightning about 5:30 a.m., and firefighters had their hands full, answering a total of eight calls within an hour.
The only real disaster was at 2624 Sir Gawain in Castle Hills. Firefighters from Lewisville and several other area cities could see the smoke for miles before arriving at the home which was near the top of a hill in Castle Hills.
Mike and Beth Petty, their three sons and a dog made it to safety. Very little in the home could be salvaged.
Division Chief Steve Carter said firefighters first entered the house, but then were ordered to come back out because of concern that the roof might collapse. Firefighters sprayed water onto the roof of the house from the 100-foot ladder truck that went to Castle Hills from the new Firehouse No. 7 that was dedicated Monday.
Smoke from the fire also invaded three other homes in the neighborhood, including at 2707 Sir Bedivere, 2700 King Arthur and 2627 King Arthur. Firefighters also answered calls at other locations where lightning or the storm had set off alarms, but no damage was done.
A resident near the home that burned on Sir Gawain said the homes on Castle Hills often seem to be in danger when a storm approaches. She said several of the plush two-story homes have sustained some damage in recent years because of lightning during storms.
Lewisville Fire Chief Rick Lasky had praise for both the Lewisville firefighters and firefighters from surrounding cities who came to help during the busy morning.
"Often when a storm passes through town you see your call volume go up due to everything from water-related events to fire alarms because of the rain and lightning to lightning strikes resulting in power lines and transformers being damaged to actual reports of fires in buildings because of the strike itself,” Lasky said.
He added, “Fortunately, our fire department has two things going for it. One is we are properly staffed and have the firehouses to meet the needs of our community 24-hours a day, including busy times during weather related events. Second, we have an incredible relationship with our neighboring fire departments and have a mutual aid assistance program that others can model after.”
He concluded, “Simply put, we all help each other in any way that we can, when we can. During this recent weather event we found ourselves responding to our normal day-to-day calls as well as those related to the weather At one point, we had eight reports of structure fires and one fire alarm that was a result of a lightning strike and all within about an hour, most falling within about 25 minutes of each other.
“Great relationships with those around us, a great dispatch center, and good planning is key in properly handling situations like these,” he said.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
A lesson learned...
In 1996, my husband and I were living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In Albuquerque, our house, like most homes had security bars on the windows and doors. Unfortunately, the security bars didn't stop the thieves - they just plowed a car through our garage door!
I learned many lessons that day, but mostly that you can never have enough safety measures in place to guarantee your house will be safe. I also learned that when someone breaks into your house, the last thing you can do is sit down and calmly recreate a list of everything that had been in your house before it was robbed. It was months after the insurance claim was settled and we were still realizing things we'd neglected to put on the insurance claim!
After that, I vowed I would not make that mistake again, and I became obsessed with keeping lists and pictures of everything in my house. I have researched home inventories and over the past 10 plus years, I have created a really efficient and effective system to inventory a house!
I learned many lessons that day, but mostly that you can never have enough safety measures in place to guarantee your house will be safe. I also learned that when someone breaks into your house, the last thing you can do is sit down and calmly recreate a list of everything that had been in your house before it was robbed. It was months after the insurance claim was settled and we were still realizing things we'd neglected to put on the insurance claim!
After that, I vowed I would not make that mistake again, and I became obsessed with keeping lists and pictures of everything in my house. I have researched home inventories and over the past 10 plus years, I have created a really efficient and effective system to inventory a house!
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