This morning around 0800 Box Alarm 14-02 was alerted for a house fire in the 4800 BLK of Roop Road after a severe storm went through the area.

Units arrived to find a 2 story home with smoke through out the home with fire in the basement. Units stretched a line and made a knock of the fire.

After further investigation by the Office of the Maryland State Fire Marshal, it was determined that lightning had struck a tree on the property and had traveled through the underground propane gas line into the house. The lightning had traveled through the underground gas line, through the interior CSST gas line, and eventually exited out of the line burning up the surrounding floor joist and flooring. This type of event has proven to be a deadly situation for firefighters in the last few years. We are thankful that the fire was knocked quickly and contained to a small area. This incident was unique in that most of the CSST gas lines were still intact for investigators to closely examine. We are hopeful that the FM's office will be able to use this information to further study these types of incidents.

Photos from Winfield and MAVFC !!!