Lightning strikes twice – two properties burn
The two incidents occurred only days apart
TWO properties suffered severe damage after they were struck by lightning last week only days apart.
The Luus family’s house in Linyati Estate in Glen Marais was struck by lightning on the main roof’s chimney around 8pm on Friday night. The act of nature caused the entire entertainment and living area to burn down. Nobody was hurt during the incident.
Neighbours, residents, GM2 Security, SSS Security and the emergency services were all on the scene to help extinguish the fire.
The board of Linyati Estate will investigate the current environment and request some quotes for lightning conductors in the following week.
In another incident, Van Riebeeck Park resident Riaan van Schalkwyk’s (29) lapa was burnt to the ground after it was struck by lightning on November 9.
The lapa only burnt down about 11 hours after the lightning struck it, due to grass and fibreglass smoldering in the knock.
“It was just after 6pm on Wednesday night when the heavy rain started, and when the lighting struck, I knew it must have been very close to us. A few seconds after the strike I saw smoke coming out of the top of the lapa and ran out to see if there were any flames,” said Van Schalkwyk.
“I ran into the house and notified Super Cops there was smoke coming from lapa. They arrived shortly after and with their help we took the hosepipe and stuck it into the top of the lapa so the water could run through.”
However, the extreme heat inside the knock of the lapa caused the fibreglass to melt.
“We thought we’d contained the fire and around midnight when I went out to check on the lapa. There was no sign of even the smallest flame or smoke. I woke up just after 5am on Thursday morning with the dogs barking like crazy. When I looked outside, I saw the lapa was in flames.”
Van Schalkwyk notified Super Cops again and at 5.40am, the emergency services were there to extinguish the fire.
“When we arrived on the scene the lapa was well alight. It was too late to salvage anything as the lapa was starting to tumble in,” said Wayne Walker, fire marshall and road manager at SSS Security.
It took SSS Security and the emergency services two hours to extinguish the flames, but luckily no injuries were sustained and the fire didn’t spread to the rest of the house.
