As we enter Lightning Safety Awareness Week, lightning safety experts stress that being outside anywhere is a dangerous risk when lightning is in the area.
LAWRENCEBURG, Tenn. – Officials in Tennessee said they believe a lightning strike was the cause of a house fire earlier this month that claimed the lives of three people in Lawrenceburg, including a child and a pregnant woman.
Lawrence County Fire and Rescue said in a Facebook post that they responded to reports of a fire on Morgan Road around 7:45 a.m. CT on May 9.
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This image shows a radar loop of strong thunderstorms and heavy rain in the Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, area on the morning of May 9, 2024.
(FOX Weather)
When fire crews arrived at the scene, they immediately began work to extinguish the blaze as well as search and rescue efforts.
Officials said the firefighters were able to quickly locate victims “with no viable life signs.”
Those victims were identified as 7-year-old Jackson Lee Wissner, 18-year-old Elizabeth Paige Brown, who was pregnant, and 28-year-old Travis Lee Wissner.
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Fire investigators say the fire’s cause was accidental with the most probable trigger being a lightning strike.
Officials said they came to that determination from evidence at the scene of the fire, witness statements and lightning strike data in the area at the time of the fire.
Working smoke detectors were not heard in dispatch recordings and firefighters at the scene said they didn’t hear any smoke alarms sounding when they arrived, investigators added.