A suburban home was hit multiple times by lightning during a round of storms Thursday morning, sparking a fire that caused an estimated $150,000 in damage.
Walter Pretzer said he was sleeping alongside his wife in their Saint Charles home when they heard what sounded like a bomb going off around 1 a.m.
“I came out in the hallway outside by the window because I couldn’t see any smoke in here and then everything was engulfed right away,” Pretzer said.
The fire took about 40 minutes for firefighters to put out and investigators found the home had been hit more than once in the overnight storms.
Pretzer said fire sparked just above his daughter’s bedroom and could have been devastating if she was home that night.
“Thank God she wasn’t staying here because that’s where most of the fire was contained,” Pretzer said.
No injuries were reported in the fire.
