Fires & Lightning

6/28/2019 (Permalink)

The rainy spring season maybe over, but we’re not out of the clear with our summer thunderstorms yet! And even though we’ve had a fairly wet spring, with lakes being over their normal levels and the soupy humidity still hanging in the air, it’s important to remember that there’s still a fire danger when it comes to the weather outside.

We aren’t dry enough yet to have wildfires, though that’s more seen on the edges of DFW, as I said above, we aren’t out of the clear for thunderstorms in the summer yet – and we’ve still got fall coming up too! You may find yourself wondering just what I’m talking about… I’m talking about lightning.

Your home could be struck by lightning! Did you know that Texas leads the nation in lightning strikes? It’s true! According to a company named Vaisala that measures lightning, Texas had 3.3 million cloud-to-ground lightning strikes alone in 2017! With those numbers, just think about how many houses are struck by lightning each year!

So, what do you do if your home is struck by lightning? Call the fire department first off. Make sure they do a full inspection of your home. Fires started by lightning can often lurk in your walls and spread quickly, causing a bigger fire. Follow your emergency plan as well to make sure your family is safe in the event of a fire.

If you’re looking for way to prevent your home from getting struck by lightning, look for a company that can install a lightning protection system on the roof of your home. The company will come out and install about ten-inch long copper rods on the roof of your home that will be connected to copper wires that run to the ground. They’ll help disperse the lightning away from your home and into the ground and preventing fires from starting. It’s also really smart to have your electronics hooked up to surge protectors.

If your home has been struck by lightning and caused a fire, give us a call today at 817.560.3086!