Lightning strikes lead to a series of fires in Dripping

Multiple houses in the Dripping Springs area caught fire over the weekend as a result of an isolated thunderstorm on Saturday morning.

The storm, which took place around 4:00 a.m. on June 10, produced heavy rain, hail and numerous lightning strikes. Over the next several hours, local emergency responders received over half a dozen calls for emergency incidents related to the severe weather. Several of these emergency incidents required multiple units to control, according to Fire Chief Scott Collard with the North Hays County Fire Rescue.

“In addition to our volunteer and full time personnel, we received mutual aid from Wimberley Fire Department, Kyle Fire Department and Buda Fire Department, as well as incident support from San Marcos Hays County EMS,” Collard said. “Fortunately, there were no reported injuries to civilians or fire personnel.”

Collard said he believed the majority of these incidents to be the direct result of lightning strikes to residential structures or areas close by.

“We’ve been in contact with the National Weather Service to get a map of where all the lightning strikes took place during that time, so we can overlay the lightning data with where the fires took place,” he said. “Some of the strikes were obvious — with a hole blown in a roof and a chimney blasted off — but most of the fires we responded to didn’t seem to have external damages.”

Tightning strikes, Collard said, can cause power surges that affect electrical systems, which may catch fire.

According to data from the North Flays County Fire Rescue, four residential structure fires were reported and one residential lightning strike was reported. Two of these resulted in minor damage, and two of these resulted in moderate damage. In the houses with moderate damage, both attics caught fire, displacing residents.

The most serious of the fires was a residential structure fire on Triple Creek Drive that took place around 4:30 a.m., according to the North Hays County Fire Rescue. Another attic fire, this one resulted in major damage.

“The family in Triple Creek are very good friends of ours,” Dripping Springs resident Richard Adams posted on Facebook. “They are doing well in spite of the circumstances. They are a family of faith and in my humble opinion, they would not be seeking financial assistance but they would appreciate prayers.”

“We were able to recover clothing and some mementos, and temporary housing was provided by a member of their church so the family can be together in a single dwelling,” he continued. “They have a long road to recovery, but I can tell you that their faith will remain strong and they will fully recover… their neighbors and members of their church were quick to provide food and refreshments throughout the day and they very much appreciated that form of assistance.”

Two activated fire alarms were also reported around this time — one with electrical and alarm system damage.

While activated fire alarms and even some lightning strikes are not uncommon in more severe thunderstorms, many direct lightning strikes close together are rare, Collard said.

“We have areas prone to lightning — Belterra, High Point, Sawyer Ranch,” he explained. “But this storm cell just came through with some really concentrated lightning strikes. It wasn’t a big storm, but it was super destructive.”

Collard suggested that homeowners ensure their electrical systems are properly grounded and protected from power surges, visiting with a builder or electrician to make sure everything is up to code.

“If you believe that your home is struck by lightning during a storm event, we encourage you to leave immediately and call 911,” he added.

All fires from June 10 are still under investigation.