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Preventing a Lightning Fire From Burning Through Your Beacon Property | SERVPRO® of Western Dutchess County
10/4/2022 (Permalink)
If you are dealing with smoke or fire damage, call SERVPRO of Western Dutchess for efficient, effective and complete fire damage services.
With the right safety equipment and property planning, many causes of home fires can be avoided or reduced. However, fires can also begin externally, creating additional risks that you must prepare for at your Beacon home.
More than 70,000 damage claims due to lightning were made in 2020, and while lightning strikes may seem rare, the risks are apparent. Lightning can cause a fire by burning items in your home, debris outdoors or even by frying your electrical system.
Lightning strikes around 6,000 times every minute, so it’s important to prepare ourselves and our homes because no one is completely safe from this risk.
Lightning is a high concentration of electrical current that connects the clouds in the sky to the ground. Lightning is usually associated with thunderstorms, but it can also occur during wildfires, winter storms and in dry conditions, a phenomenon known as “dry lightning.”
This is why we can’t assume that lightning only happens during severe storms because dry lightning exists, too. This disaster can easily spark wildfires, and while the risks change with the seasons, it’s important for us to be prepared for lightning damage at all times.
Lightning can cause damage in multiple ways, including sparking flames from the heat of the strike or from surging through your appliances and wiring. While a lightning-related fire may not be immediately noticeable, you should look out for signs that the house has been struck, like a loud boom, black marks or the smell of smoke.
The loud noise of the strike, followed by black marks or a smoky smell, is your sign that you should call the fire department immediately. After you’ve been cleared, have an electrician test your electrical system to be extra safe.
You can prevent a house fire from lightning by installing a lightning rod that will divert the energy from a strike and ward off electrical surges. You can also add a whole-home surge protector to prevent wire failure or malfunction from causing flames to ignite.
Lightning is a frequent cause of wildfires, but different areas face different peak seasons for these kinds of fires. On average, around 9,000 fires originate through lightning, and these flames are often more dangerous due to the high heat impact of the strike.
The good news is that you can protect your house. Clear your property of dead vegetation, and think about installing a defensible zone around your home to prevent fire from spreading onto the structure.
It’s also crucial that you have full protection from smoke alarms inside the house so you can be alerted no matter where the fire originates.
If a fire affects your home, call SERVPRO of Western Dutchess County for any cleanup and restoration needs. Our experts are trained to handle every kind of fire damage, and we offer 24⁄7 availability so that you can get assistance when you need it most.
Have you experienced smoke or fire damage in your home? Call us today to get restoration services started.