(West Memphis, AR) A lightning strike caused a fire at a West Memphis apartment Thursday evening.
The apartment is located in the 100 block of West Harrison Street, near the Crittenden Memorial Hospital.
Ken Nadeau was sitting on the couch when he heard a zap.
“It was just a loud explosion and the TV lit up and went blank,” Nadeau said.
His TV was fried. Neighbors knocked on the door and told him to get out. The whole building was getting swallowed up by flames.
The owners of the building did not want to speak about the fire, although we know there are between six and eight units in the complex, and all of the residents got out safely. The damage is heavy to the units affected.
Fire went through the roof, and firefighters had a hard time getting to it because of the surrounding trees. The only effective way to fight the fire was with a ladder truck.
Firefighters were told to get out of the building for their safety. Other than heat exhaustion, there were no injuries.
Some of the firefighters came from the Marion Fire Department.