Lightning Strikes Renton Home, Sparks Fire

Today's lightning strike did more than spark awe an wonder across the puget sound; it struck fear into the heart of a Renton man and his neighbors as a home in the 12600 block of SE 104th Street went up in flames.

Witnesses at the scene reported that the house caught fire after being struck by lightning, said Renton Fire and Emergency Services Deputy Chief Erik Wallgren.

The homeowner, a 57-year-old man, was taken to Valley Medical Center for smoke inhalation. He was thrown out of a chair and across the room when the lighten struck his one-story, 50-by-50-foot house.

A total of 19 firefighters, two chiefs, one ladder and one aid car from Renton, Skyway, Bellevue and Eastside Fire responded to the scene.

The first Renton engine to arrive at the address found smoke and flames pouring from windows on three sides of the house, and extinguished the fire within 30 minutes.

The man is expected to make a full recovery. A dog, inside the home during the lightning strike, escaped without injury.

The department did not receive any other reports of fires caused by Friday's lightning strike, Wallgren said, although the department was busy responding to commercial fire alarms that were set off by power surges caused by the lightning.