Crime & Safety
Lemont Home Burned Down by Wednesday Lightning Strike
One dog was killed and a beleaguered family suffered another in a series of tragedies as the isolated home near I-355 went up in flames.
An isolated Lemont home burned down last Wednesday evening (June 12) after a lightning strike started a fire on the second floor of the house, the Suburban Life reports.
According to the paper, 16435 Alba, where the blaze raged, sat in the middle of a large field at the end of a dirt road (that runs past the Lemont Township Community Center) with no nearby fire hydrants, so responders had to transport their own water tanks.
It was newly rented by resident Melanie Dennis, whose family was home at the time of the strike, but escaped uninjured, the paper said. However, one of the family's three dogs was killed, CBS2 Chicago reports.
“I just moved everything in the house last Friday. I hadn’t even had time to get renters insurance,” Dennis told CBS, adding that it was the latest tragedy for her as both her daughters recently passed away. (One daughter's ashes were in the home, the station reported.)
"[But] this is just temporary. We’re just here to learn. My faith is in God and I know that He’s here and I know He’s a real and I know that my God is bigger than anything else and He’ll take care of us."
Read more at the Suburban Life and the CBS2 Chicago websites.
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