Non-Stop Lightning Sparks Several Tulsa-Area House Fires

Several storms that rolled through Oklahoma put on quite a light show. Lightning was non-stop starting early Monday evening through the morning hours Tuesday. It damaged several homes.

Inola resident Tony Stone caught video from his front yard after his wife alerted him to a fire at his neighbor's home after a lightning strike.

"Ones like yesterday - it literally popped up right on top of us - that lightning was crazy," Stone said.

"Just glad that the people were home and somebody was called in quick. In five minutes it was really going hard, but the fire department here is awesome - they got out here fast and got on it," he said.

7/21/2015 Related Story: Lightning Strike Sparks West Tulsa House Fire

It was the same Inola neighborhood damaged by a tornado back in May. Stone said in his 20 years in the town, he's never seen a lightning storm like Monday's. 

"It was just massive lightning strikes, and it was just one after another," he said.

Lightning from the same round of storms sparked a fire that burned the back half of a home near Coweta. The Bundy family spent much of the day  looking through the damage for belongings.

The Kirksey family in Glenpool woke up to the smell of smoke in their home after a lightning strike.

7/21/2015 Related Story: Glenpool Family Safe After Fire Damages Home

"It was spreading like wildfire," homeowner Michael Kirksey said. "It pretty much quickly enveloped the entire garage, our vehicles out front and inside the garage, collapsed the roof before fire departments could ever get out here."

There are things you can do to protect your home:

• Make sure it's properly grounded
• Make sure a copper line connects your home to the electric meter and fuse box
• Don't run gas lines through the rafters of your roof
• Remove old satellites and antennas
• Use surge protectors

The folks in Inola are helping last night's fire victims by donating gift cards to help them rebuild.