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VIDEO: Brand New Home Goes Up In Flames After Apparent Lightning Strike


Raw video shot by WWJ's Jon Hewett

LYON TWP. (WWJ) - A brand new, half million dollar home went up in flames just hours after lightning reportedly stuck the house.

The situation unfolded early Saturday morning in the Warren Creek Estate subdivision along 10 Mile Road, just west of Wixom Road in Lyon Township.

Matt Winland, who lives across the street from the burned home, told WWJ's Jon Hewett that his 10-year-old son saw the strike, but the fire didn't start until more than two hours later.

"Our son saw the lightning strike and he said it hit the house. He ran in the front door when it was striking really bad and he said he saw it hit right in front of us," Windland said, adding that he wasn't sure if his son was telling the truth.

"I didn't believe him at all, so we were really trying to calm him down and tell him 'No, it didn't' and we all went to bed. And then almost two and a half hours later we woke up and the whole house was engulfed," he said.

Fortunately, the home, which was under construction and just days away from completion, was unoccupied. Winland said a family was just two weeks away from moving in

"The people moving in are from South Carolina so, you know, they're going to be really disappointed. They're living in an apartment right now," he said.

Fire investigators haven't ruled an official cause of the fire just yet, but said there's no reason not to believe that lightening sparked the blaze.

No injuries were reported.

lyon twp lightning strike and  fire
This brand new home under construction in Lyon Township went up in flames after lightning reportedly struck the house. (Credit: Jon Hewett/WWJ Newsradio 950)
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