WILTON MANORS, FLA. (WSVN) - Overnight storms caused trouble in a Wilton Manors neighborhood after a townhome caught fire and residents said a lighting strike is likely the blame.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue crews raced to extinguish a fire that broke out near Northeast 11th Avenue and Wilton Drive, early Wednesday morning.
Firefighters said they found flames in the attic space of the two-story townhome and haze inside some units.
The fire left behind a gaping hole in the roof.
Video shared with 7News from FLFR captured firefighters slicing open the roof as smoke billowed from the attic.
While investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire, resident Joshua Head suspects lightning caused it.
“I didn’t expect it to do as much damage. There’s a big hole in the roof right now,” said Head.
Head said he woke up to the sound of a loud explosion in the wee hours of the morning, followed by the smell of smoke.
Minutes later, he and the other man who lives at the home discovered that a fire had sparked inside the attic.
“About 3 a.m. we were awakened by a loud explosion,” said Head.
But the firefight on the ground was joined by a rainstorm from the sky.
“With the storm blast, we had a lot of water coming in from that, plus from the fire hoses,” said Head. “It was pouring.”
Neighbors said the storm was powerful.
“It was bad, thunder and lightning,” said neighbor David Andruczyk.
Pieces of the ceiling and insulation covered the entire second floor with inches of water flooding the bottom floor.
Despite the work and hefty expense ahead, Head said he’s grateful they did not fall back asleep.
“I’ve never experienced anything like this. This right here was just unbelievable, you know, a one-in-a-million shot.,” he said. “Thank God that we actually got up when we did, because had we actually went back to sleep, the fire could’ve went down the wall and trapped us in the bedroom. It would’ve been a whole lot more difficult to get out.”
The smoke alarms eventually went off, but Head said that wasn’t the case when the smell of smoke first began to linger in the air.
No injuries were reported.
Head said he has been displaced from the home, and it could be several weeks before everything returns to normal.
Copyright 2026 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.