PIKESVILLE, Md. — As workers cut sections of plywood to board up the burnt-out three-story building at the Twin Ridge Apartments, nearby residents spoke of what they heard on Thursday just before the fire broke out.
“Right around 3:00. Just a terrible ‘boom!”, said Ryan Tucker, “One of the loudest I’ve ever heard and I came out about five minutes later to see the smoke coming out.”
Celani Lopez says her mother heard something as well a few buildings away.
Neighbors speak out following fire sparked by lightning in Pikesville
“She heard a very loud explosion and the dogs started freaking out,” said Lopez, “At first, she went to go check on my sister and then the dogs to see if they were ok and, yes, I guess that’s when the fire happened.”
The Baltimore County Fire Department has now confirmed that a lightning strike occurred at that exact latitude and longitude igniting the fire, which would spread quickly through the building.
“Our responding units got here within minutes,” said Baltimore County Fire Bureau Chief Travis Francis, “They had fire through the roof. It was a very significant fire.”
Fortunately, it appears all of the people who were inside the building at the time of the fire were able to make it outside safely and there were no reported injuries.
Firefighters eventually entered the building and were able to save a number of pets with the exception of one dog they couldn’t reach in time, and while 15 people have been displaced, they are supported by their neighbors who know the lightning could just as easily have struck their buildings upending their lives in the process.
“It’s just kind of roll the dice with things and you just gotta take them as they come,” said Tucker, “but thoughts and prayers with everybody and hopefully, we can come together as a community and get through this.”
