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Severson has lived at N8756 Hwy. 53 just north of Holmen since 1971, and she watched firefighters work to save her home after finishing her Saturday breakfast out. Lightning apparently struck a nearby transformer, followed the electricity into the house and ignited a fire, said Holmen Area Fire Department Captain Bill Bulawa.
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A Fire Fighter with the Holmen Area Fire department walks in front of a broken picture window after a fire was extinguished at N8756 Hwy 53 between Holmen and Galesville Saturday morning.
PETER THOMSON photo |
"It's an act of nature as far as I'm concerned," Bulawa said.
But Severson, who has lived alone since her husband, Ted, died eight years ago, said something more than nature ensured she was gone when the incident happened.
"Maybe my husband was watching out for me," she said.
Firefighters were called to the scene about 9 a.m., and crews saw flames in the large front window when they arrived, Bulawa said. Crews were able to get the fire under control quickly.
The house received smoke damage throughout, but fire damage was concentrated to the front room and a few spots in the basement, Bulawa said. No injuries were reported.
The lightning blew a small hole in the concrete driveway, and its impact caused the front picture window to shatter, said Severson's son-in-law, Bob Miller. The electrical outlets inside and outside the home turned black, and the wood beams in the basement were singed wherever wiring was located.
"You can see where the fire ran," Miller said. "It just followed every wire in the house."
Miller said the house is insured, and Severson will likely stay at his family's Holmen home.
The La Crosse County Sheriff's Department, Tri-State Ambulance and the American Red Cross assisted at the scene.
Severson sat in a folding chair along Hwy. 53 and watched as firefighters did their job. Bulawa brought Severson her pills and a file of important papers. Later in the day, friends and family tried to save some of her antiques from water damage.
Severson said she was grateful her neighbors reported the fire so quickly.
"It's just scary," she said. "I guess it was an act of God I was gone."
This is at least the second time a lighting strike damaged a Coulee Region home this month. Lightning hit a television antenna on the roof of a house on Losey Boulevard North on May 12, burning some wires in the home and causing minor damage.
Anastasia Mercer can be reached at (608) 791-8256 or smercer@lacrossetribune.com.
