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Lightning strike ignites small Collier fire
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Golden Gate Estates resident Frank Oliva heard a loud boom Sunday while riding a bike around his neighborhood.
But it wasn’t until he rode back to his home in the 2800 block of 20th Avenue S.E. that he saw the growing blaze across the street.
“It was surprising,” said Oliva, 53. Oliva’s neighbors’ Rick and Juli Connover also heard the loud explosion and rushed over to see what was going on.
“We were sitting outside, we heard the big boom,” said Juli Connover, 43. “About 30 seconds later he (Rick, 45) looked out back and saw tons of smoke. He ran out and I called 911.”
A mid-afternoon lightning strike sparked the one-quarter of an acre fire, said Golden Gate Fire Battalion Chief Matthew Zaleznik.
Both the Golden Gate Fire Control and Rescue District and the Division of Forestry responded to the fire, which was quickly contained.
“It was scary,” said Connover. “But they got here pretty quick,”
In spite of the lightning strike blowing the bark off a pine tree and the fire leaving several nearby palms smoldering, none of the surrounding homes were damaged.
“Because it is later on and the winds weren’t blowing hard, quick aggressive firefighting kept it from getting any farther than it did,” said Zaleznik.
He added that because the neighboring homeowners had the yard cleared nicely, it would have aided the department in protecting the house if the fire had threatened the property.
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THANKS AGAIN TO THE FIRE DEPT! I HEARD THIS ON THE SCANNER AND THEY HAD IT CONTAINED IN NO TIME! THESE FIREFIGHTERS REALLY EARN THEIR MONEY.YOU GUYS ARE GREAT.
#1 Posted by citygirl on June 9, 2008 at 2:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
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