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Lightning ignites Collin County fires
Photo Courtesy of First Response Photography -- Firefighters from seven McKinney fire stations battled simultaneous house fires started by direct lightning strikes late Wednesday morning. Fairview and Frisco firefighters manned their stations while they were dispersed.
By Chris Beattie, cbeattie@starlocalnews.com
Several weeks after tornadoes swept through the D-FW area, a different weather phenomenon this week took its turn damaging Collin County homes.
Lightning on Wednesday ignited multiple McKinney and Frisco residences, forcing mutual response from area firefighters to control the flames.
Two McKinney fires occurred near Alma Road and Silverado Trail. The first fire was reported at about 11:18 a.m. on Loma Alta Trail, just west of Alma Road, and report of a second fire, in the 7800 block of Laughing Waters Trail directly south of Loma Alta, came in about 15 minutes later, said Stacie Durham, McKinney Fire Department public information officer.
More than 20 firefighting personnel responded to each fire, and the last unit didn't clear until after 3 p.m. A third home, also on Loma Alta, was struck by lightning but did not catch fire.
Firefighters from McKinney fire stations 2 through 8 battled the blazes. Frisco and Fairview firefighters helped man the stations as part of the cities' mutual aid program.
"When you have two working structure fires plus other calls at other locations, help is often needed," Durham said.
Though two of the three residences were occupied, no civilians or firefighters were injured. But the homes likely weren't as fortunate, and Durham said lightning fires peak during early summer months, so similar fires could occur in coming weeks.
Lightning protection systems, which can be installed in new and existing homes, are an effective way to prevent such fires. Though the systems do not prevent a lightning strike, they provide the lightning current a direct path to the ground, and prevent or greatly limit damage to the home.
"Lightning protection gives lightning a yellow-brick road to the ground," said Beth Weddle, marketing manager for Bonded Lightning Protection (BLP), a lightning-protection installation company with crews throughout the southeastern U.S., including ones in Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio.
Protection comes from an interconnected system of conductive metal -- copper and/or aluminum -- that runs from rooftop lightning rods, through the structure, to rods driven several feet into the ground. Conductive wires can be run on the inside of a new house's frame.
Weddle said for a typical one-story house, the installation cost is often less than $5,000, a worthwhile expense for homeowners considering the alternative.
"Compared to the damage lightning can do, it's actually incredibly affordable," said Weddle, whose own home has lightning protection. "It is a few thousand dollars when you could be paying tens of thousands."
Two major structure fires Wednesday in Frisco proved the importance of such cost-benefit analysis. Lightning ignited two residences, causing $450,000 in damage to one and $250,000 in damage to the other, said Frisco Fire Chief Mack Borchardt.
Lightning Protection Institute-certified systems are 99.9 percent effective in providing structural protection for a building, Weddle said. Some with protection systems have reported to BLP that they suffered only a blown-out television or phone, not structural damage, after their residence took a direct lightning strike.
"Protecting your home is a matter of contacting a professional qualified to design and install a certified lightning protection system," Durham said. "The overall goal is to keep homeowners and property safe."
Some residences' gas line runs through the home, to the stove, heater and other appliances, through corrugated stainless-steel tubing, which can undermine or interfere with lightning-protection systems if not revealed during system installation.If lightning-protection crews are made aware of the tubing, they can do additional metal bonding and often circumvent any issues, Weddle said.
Like tornadoes, lightning strikes are unavoidable. But while dry Texas soil denies many residents storm shelters, they have immediate access to lightning protection.
"Seeing these fires is frustrating," Weddle said. "People just aren't aware that protection is there."
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