Crime & Safety
UPDATE: Fire Chief: Lightning Struck Ground Near Smoke Rise Homes
Police said two separate incidents were reported Sunday night.
Kinnelon Fire Chief Jim Bosch said two Kinnelon homes on Cherry Tree Lane, in Smoke Rise, were affected by what appeared to be a lightning strike Sunday night, causing light smoke to be inside the homes. Bosch said there was minimal damage as a result of the lightning.
Bosch said and members of the responded to the two separate structure fires around 8:20 p.m. The two homes, numbers 10 and 12, are next to each other, he said, and fire officials believe the strike occurred near the homes.
"[Lightning] would travel through the ground," Bosch said Sunday. "Especilly wet ground is conductive."
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Bosch also said he found that one of the homes had an electric pet fence that he said may have been a medium which the lightning strike traveled through. In the home with the fence, Bosch said the electrical transformer appeared charred.
Still, Bosch said there was "basically no damage" in either home.
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