FAMILY ESCAPE LIGHTNING STRIKE

10:14am Tuesday 11th March 2008

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AN UPTON family had an extraordinary escape when lightning blew their house apart during Monday's violent storms.

Mother Julie Day and her three girls Jodie, 16, Shannon, 12 and Megan, nine, all managed to flee the explosion when the bolt set their home on Guest Road ablaze just after midday.

Neighbours described hearing an "almighty crack" and seeing a "blinding blue light" as the lightning struck, instantly ripping a giant hole in the roof of the house.

Father Peter raced home from work to find the blast had gutted the upper part of his home completely, though incredibly his wife and children escaped unharmed. A cat and hamster are believed to have been killed.

A shocked Mrs Day said: "I just couldn't believe lightning could do that.

"I thought the TV had blown, but by the time I'd run to the front door there was an even bigger bang."

The two eldest girls had been in an upstairs bedroom when the lightning hit, with the chimney collapsing into the house, but they managed to scramble downstairs.

Neighbour Irene Lonsdale, who saw the strike, dashed across the road to help rescue the family from the burning house.

"I've never heard a bang like it," said Mrs Lonsdale.

"It was terrific and shook the whole house."

Paramedics treated the girls for shock and minor cuts and grazes at the scene.

Mr Day, a production manager, spent the rest of the day retrieving what he could of his family's possessions from their house, which they moved into from London a year and a half ago.

He said: "They were all so fortunate.

"It didn't matter about the house as long as my family were okay."

Watch manager Julian Lockwood, from Hamworthy fire station, said it was the most severe lightning strike he had witnessed in his 15-year career.

He said: "To take the roof out like that is very unusual.

"I was really surprised how quickly the fire spread."

The bolt struck an aerial on the semi-detached house and jolted down the side of the building, leaving a black stripe on the brickwork.

Power cables connecting the house to a telegraph pole across the road were blown by the surge of the strike, while phones and electricity in houses along Guest Road also blew.

The strike happened yards from the front gate of Upton Infants School, though the school itself was closed for the day.

The lightning also knocked out the phones at Upton Junior School, but the school will be open as usual today.