Fire department says two lightning fires are ‘unusual’

Two fires caused by lightning in one night is unusual, according to the Columbia Fire Department.

Assistant Fire Chief Brad Fraizer confirmed two house fires that happened in southwest Columbia on Tuesday night were the result of lightning strikes.

The Fire Department was originally called out to a fire in Brackenhill Court at 4:33 p.m. The department was called out on a second fire, in the Aspen Heights apartment complex, at 9:50 p.m.

According to Google Maps, the two locations are only 6.9 miles apart.

“Having two fires that close together was unusual,” he said. “That is an unusual occurrence.”

Fraizer said the leading cause of fire in Columbia is kitchen fires. However, a lightning fire is likely more costly due to lightning typically hitting the roof of a house.

“It seems like with two of them happening, and possibly a third, that this is a pretty common occurrence, but really it isn’t,” said Shelter Insurance agent Jay MacLellan.

Though he said the insurance company budgets for a certain amount of storm damage every year, agents typically see damage due to hail or winds. MacLellan said there are types of lightning protection systems consumers can buy to protect their houses, but they would not necessarily decrease a person’s insurance rate. Based off of websites such as Angie’s List and Home Advisor, lightning protection systems range from about $350 to over $2,000. “Basically, what they do is they’ve got rods on the top of the home, and the lightning will hit those rods, and then they’ve got a wire that goes down to the ground, and basically it disperses the electrical energy from the lightning bolt to the ground,” MacLellan said.
According to a press release from the Columbia Fire Department, the apartment in Aspen Heights sustained about $30,000 worth of damage. The house on Brackenhill Court sustained about $50,000 worth of damage.