SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A suspected lightning strike may have caused a residential fire in Southwest Miami-Dade.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue units responded to the scene along Southwest 98th Terrace and 156th Court, at around 3:30 p.m., Thursday.
According to fire officials, when crews arrived, visible smoke was seen coming from the attic of the home. Cellphone video sent to Only in Dade’s Instagram page showed the smoke coming from the home.
Martha Diaz, who lives nearby, said the sound of thunder scared her.
“The sound was like a bomb,” Diaz said.
Residents of the home said two adults were taking care of children at the time of the fire.
All of the people inside got out of the home safely, the family said.
“Always because of the bad weather, our concern is to safely extinguish the fire and keep our firefighters safe,” Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Lt. Kirsten Miller said. “This fire was difficult for many reasons. We were in significant bad weather. It was still thundering and lightning in the area when we arrived.”
Thursday’s storms brought lots of rain and, in one area, knocked down trees and caused major traffic backups on the highways. 7News cameras captured a family running to get out of the rainstorm in Northwest Miami-Dade.
The fire has since been extinguished, and most of the damage was contained to the home’s attic, fire officials said.
“They had to move out. They had to leave everything, get a place and start rebuilding the house,” Diaz said.
No injuries were reported.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
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