Kurt Wetzel was watching the Indians game on television Tuesday night.
But moments into the game, mother nature made a play.
“I heard a loud crash,” he said. “Saw a flash of lightning and it hit the northwest corner of the house. Literally knocked me out of my chair.”
He then began checking rooms in his home, but wasn’t prepared for what he saw upstairs.
“I got the ladder, went upstairs,” Wetzel said. “The flames at that point were about eight to six feet high. A lot of heavy smoke. I couldn’t breathe.”
He stepped outside to find his entire roof engulfed in flames. He then went to get his wife and pets.
“It was really frightening,” said neighbor Susan Goffinet, who witnessed the fire from across the street. “And the smoke was just billowing and just blowing because the winds were so high at the time because of the storm.”
It took five fire departments nearly five hours to put out the flames.
“It took your breath away and made your heart heavy,” said neighbor Ron Adams. “It was good to know there was such a quick response that the police and fire department were there, but I was worried for them.”
Wetzel said his home is a total loss, but he says he’s lucky. He hopes this will inspire others to create rescue plans for their families.
“Everybody’s safe. That’s the number one concern,” he said. “Secondly, I have wonderful insurance. What I feel bad for right now are that this happens to that don’t have coverage.”
Though there’s little left of the home he’s lived in for nearly 20 years, Wetzel remains optimistic.
“That’s the way you’ve got to approach life,” he said. “We all face challenges. The lord throws us challenges each day. At this point, no, we’re fine.”