Today at approximately 7:12 AM, the Ankeny Fire Department was dispatched to 1003 NE Williamsburg CT for a house fire following a lightning strike. Initial reports from the homeowner, were that a lightning strike had occurred about 10 minutes prior to finding heavy fire and smoke in the garage. The homeowner called 911 and then was able to safely evacuated himself and two children who were in the residence at the time of the fire. The incident was quickly upgraded to a second alarm, which dispatched additional resources from Altoona, Bondurant, Johnston-Grimes, and Polk City fire departments.
The Ankeny Fire Department arrived on scene in just over 10 minutes and found heavy smoke coming from the attic of the house and fire in the garage. Crews immediately began to extinguish the fire and were able to contain the fire very quickly. There were no injuries to the homeowners, nor responders and the cause of the fire is under investigation. No other information is available at this time.
The Ankeny Fire Department would like to thank the Altoona Fire Department, Bondurant Fire Department, Johnston-Grimes Metropolitan Fire Department, Polk City Fire Department, Ankeny Police Department, Polk County Sheriff’s Office Communications, and Mid-American Energy for their assistance.