Man saves neighbours after lightning strikes roof and fire spreads

A man has described how he frantically tried to wake up his neighbours after a lightning strike set a house on fire and the blaze rapidly spread.

Primary school teacher Stuart Dunn had to knock the door of the affected property aggressively, with the owner unaware of the fire on her roof as she slept downstairs with her dog.

Dunn, 36, then had to shine a torch through the window of a neighbouring property to wake up another resident who was sleeping with an eye mask on and ear plugs in.

Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service said crews were sent to a two-storey, semi-detached property in Glanaman, Carmarthenshire, at about 23:20 BST on 27 May.

The dramatic moment that lightning hit the roof, setting it alight, was captured by another resident.

“It was quite unnerving, I’ve never heard thunder like that in my life,” Dunn said.

Painting an eery picture of the night, he believes weather conditions tripped the electricity off in the area, meaning the fan in his bedroom stopped for about 20 seconds before coming back on.

Combined with thunder and “constant flashes” of lightning, he was left unable to sleep.

He went to the toilet, which is when he saw a flicker of orange through the frosted glass of the window.

“I assumed it was a streetlight at first,” he said.

“But I noticed it disappeared and then came back again, so I opened the window which is when I saw the flames on the roof.”

This is when panic set in, and he threw on a T-shirt and sliders, running out of his house and across the road to the house which had been struck by lightning.

He described knocking the property’s door aggressively, with the owner answering, and having no idea of what was happening on her roof.

“I think she was in shock,” he added.

“She came out of the house and I phoned 999.

“A few of the neighbours began to come out of their houses too but not the woman who lives next door to the house that was on fire.”

Stuart Dunn

Dunn said neighbours knew the woman next door to the property ablaze lived alone.

He began knocking her front door, and it felt like quite a while without an answer.

It was at this point he went around the back, and noticed windows open at the top of the property.

“I began flashing my phone torch as close to the window as I could and then she popped her head out, then we let her know what was going on,” he added.

“She was sleeping with an eye mask on, and ear plugs so had not heard what had happened either.”

Stuart Dunn

Smoke began to intensify, and soon most residents had left their properties.

Dunn, who has lived in the area eight years, invited the woman whose house had been damaged into his home so she could call her insurance company.

“It wouldn’t have sat well with me to have closed the window and gone back to bed,” he added.

“At the time I wasn’t aware if anyone else had seen what happened or were aware of the flames.

“You’d hope any normal person would go over to let them know and help out.

“I don’t think what I did was heroic, you just do it.”

Dunn said he does not know his neighbour well, but she popped a thank you card through his letterbox which he said we a “nice gesture”.

Mid and West Wales Fire Service

Another resident Maggie Rose Day, 25, caught the moment the lightning struck the house on video.

She said: “I find the weather quite fascinating so decided to get my phone out to record the sky.

“After 30 seconds, the lightning struck the neighbour’s house.

“I jumped a mile, I’ve never heard or seen a thunderstorm like it.”

Maggie said she could soon smell smoke.

Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service said “significant fire damage” was caused to the property and the fire spread to a neighbouring property.

Dyfed-Powys Police, the ambulance service and National Grid all attended.

Despite the damage, “all persons were accounted for and no injuries were reported”, a spokesperson added.

Crews left the scene at 02:45 BST on 28 May.

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