Lightning strike destroys tree, damages homes

Keith Kruse, of Oyens, uses a chainsaw to cut up a tree destroyed by lightning early Monday morning. The tree used to stand next to his home. Family, friends and neighbors gathered to help cleanup the mess from the fallen tree. [Click to enlarge]

A loud boom woke Oyens residents early Monday when lightning struck a tree destroying it and damaging homes in the area.

"It just blew up that tree like somebody stuck a huge stick of dynamite in it," said Keith Kruse, of 330 Lincoln St. "It was the biggest, loudest boom you ever heard."

Steve Bolton, Oyens' fire chief, said the fire crew was called at 3:16 a.m. to 330 Lincoln St.

"The lightening traveled to an electrical panel where it blew several breakers, causing smoke in the house," Bolton said. "When we arrived at the house, we did not find any fire in the house."

No one was seriously injured when the tree that had stood between the Kruse's home and the home of Paula and Robert Cronin, of 340 Lincoln St., was struck at about 3 a.m. Monday.

But both Cronins suffered superficial cuts caused by flying glass.

"I could feel something hit me in the head and I started bleeding and then my husband started bleeding," Paula Cronin said.

Kruse said after he heard the loud bang the pressure inside his home was so intense it "hurt your ears."

He said the lightning fried his fuse boxes causing electrical damage. There is also water and structural damage to his home.

"It melted my phone wire right in half," Kruse said. "It was something I've never experienced ever."

Inside the Cronin's home, the walls in two rooms closest to where the tree stood are buckling and the outside of the home in that area is scraped and raw.

About seven homes plus St. Catherine's School, where a window was broken, were affected by the lightning strike, area residents said.

"It shattered the tree enough that it made a hole in the ground," Bolton said. "The tree was scattered over quite an area. Small bits and large pieces were scattered all over the street and in people's yards."

Across the street from the Kruse home at Dave and Michelle Hughes, who weren't home at the time of the storm, came back to find their garage door flipped inside out but still hanging on its frame.

Property owners said they won't have cost estimates until after insurance adjusters assess the damage.

The Hughes, Kruse and the Cronins said they couldn't have gotten the debris cleaned up Monday without the help of family, friends and neighbors.

"You had about half a dozen people here that didn't have any damage," Michelle Hughes said.

Kruse agreed.

"If it wasn't for the neighbors, I wouldn't know where to start," he said.