Dateline: July 15, 2004

Lightning sparks fire, destroys local home

By Roger Estlack & Ashlee Kidd, Clarendon Enterprise

A southwest Clarendon home was lost to fire after it was hit by lightning early Friday morning.

Lightning struck a second story addition to a railroad caboose that was attached to the south side of the three-story home of George and Dixie Howard at 702 S. Leroy Street, according to Assistant Clarendon Fire Chief Patrick Robertson.

“It caught the upstairs of the caboose on fire. Wind blew the fire under the eave of the house and into the attic,” Robertson said.

The 911 dispatcher received the call of the fire at 5:44 a.m., and Donley County Deputy Kelly Hill, who had been watching lightning in the area, arrived on the scene at 5:46. The first of six units from the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department arrived at 5:52.

Fifteen firefighters responded to the call and had the blaze largely under control by 8 a.m., but they were unable to save the structure.

“If the wind hadn’t hit and if we had hit with water a few minutes sooner, we probably could have contained it,” Robertson said. “The guys did a heck of a job fighting it.”

The top two floors of the house were destroyed, and most of the contents on the first floor received smoke and water damage. No firemen were allowed on the roof or inside the structure due to the possibility of collapse.

Most of the fire units were released by noon, and personnel were rotated out with one unit watching over the site until 6:40 p.m.

Robertson said the fire department pumped an estimated 200,000 gallons of water to battle the blaze and said he was informed by Greenbelt Water Authority that the level in the west water tower dropped by 18 feet.

Robertson said fireman Jason Christopher was one of the first to respond and had to be taken by ambulance to an Amarillo hospital where he was treated for smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion. He was released the same day.

Several other men had to be treated on the scene for smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion.