The second house fire sparked during a thunderstorm in less than a month, has reignited the lightning protection debate.
“This is very scary,” said Ron Bouffard who lives next door to 861 Evelynton Loop in the Village of Lynnhaven.
That house owned by George and Jan Head erupted in flames when the garage was struck by lightning at about 4 p.m. Saturday.
“George and Jan took this pretty calmly,” said Bouffard who works part-time at the Redfish Run and Tarpon Boil golf courses. “And we’re just happy that they got out alive and unhurt. They stayed with us last night, and now are making arrangements to rent a car and rebuild the damaged portions of the house.”
The Heads were able to salvage some belongings from the garage and kitchen area, but little is left of their golf cart, and their car is badly charred. The residents were relaxing in their Florida room when they smelled smoke, and thought a neighbor’s home might be on fire. Only when they looked in the garage did they realize it was their own home.
Ron Bouffard went to help his wife out of her car during the heavy rain when he was met with black, choking smoke in his garage.
“My wife was coming home from church right after a loud lightning strike, and I really thought our house was on fire.” Bouffard said.
The latest fire has Villagers once again looking at the pros and cons of lightning rods.
Fire and utility experts do not have an official position on how much protection installing lightning rods might provide. Acting Fire Chief in The Villages, Edmund Cain, reports they have rods on their firehouses, but he and his wife do not have them on their residence. Both Cain and Barry Bowman, Community Relations Director for the Sumter Electric Cooperative utility (SECO) both stress any lightning protection systems must be purchased from reputable licensed dealers who have both Lightning Protection Institute (LPI) and Underwriters Laboratories (UL) credentials. There is no government regulation of the lightning protection industry in Florida, and the LPI is the industry’s way of ensuring high standards and policing itself.
Bowman also emphasizes any lightning rod system must be adequately grounded to be effective — and should be checked by a licensed electrician every 6-12 months. “The worst chance you can take,” Bowman said, “is to buy a system from a fly-by-night contractor who might phone you or ring your doorbell. You can’t depend on the products they may sell you.”
No available system will protect a building from a direct lightning hit, but SECO offers a surge protection system at modest cost which may block electrical charges from lightning in their lines from reaching residents’ appliances.
“We have such strong storms here,” Carol Bouchard added, “it is really scary. We are all at their mercy.”