Firefighters praised following lightning strike fire

Firefighters who attended a house fire caused by a lightning strike yesterday morning (Thursday) have been praised by the local community.

A severe storm passed through the area yesterday morning with people describing it as the 'loudest thunder they've ever heard'.

During the storm lightning hit a house in Bayswater Road in Melton causing the roof to catch fire.

Leicestershire Fire & Rescue Service confirmed they received a call at 04:57 and were on scene by 05:03.

8 Breathing Apparatus (BA) wearers sent directly into the smoke and multiple hose reel jets were set up to suppress the fire.

Severe roof damage was caused to the roof of the house. Photo: NEMM

The aerial ladder platform also attended for roof level access and ventilation.

Residents have taken to social media to praise crews who helped fight the fire while the storm carried on over head.

One resident said: "So grateful to you, arrived so fast and were able to contain it so us others weren’t affected, was a very scary wake up call. Thank you for all you do!"

Another wrote: "Thank you for your life saving work and personally for visiting with me and testing and upgrading my smoke detector service in my house."

Another simply added: "Brilliant work . Brilliant people.".

Melton Firefighters have said they will be back in the local area in the coming weeks.

Multiple fire crews attended the incident on Thursday morning. Photo: NEMM

In a post on Facebook they said: "We want to extend a massive thank you to all local residents for your incredible cooperation and support during this incident. It makes a tough job a lot easier when the community rallies together.

Over the coming week, our teams will be re-visiting the local area to chat with residents, offer free Home Fire Safety Checks, and fit free smoke alarms to any properties that need them."

Crews from stations across Leicestershire attended the incident including Melton Mowbray, Central,  Oakham and Billesdon alongisde the Command Support vehicle from Shepshed.

They were supported from neighbouring counties including Grantham, Corby Glenn and Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue.

No injuries were reported during the incident and firefighters have been returning to the location to check for hotspots.