Police and firefighter/paramedics from Arlington Heights responded about 11:06 a.m. Friday September 27, 2019 to an activated fire alarm followed by a report of a lightning strike with smoke in a townhouse in the block of 1600 West Hawkes Street in Arlington Heights.
Firefighters arrived on the scene and reported light smoke showing. Interior firefighters reported no active fire from the 2-story townhouse. Lightning apparently blew a hole in the roof and blew out some drywall, but did not ignite a fire.
Firefighters checked the attic for fire, and did not detect any heat or fire. Buffalo Grove firefighters and Palatine firefighters assisted Arlington Heights firefighters on the scene, but extra crews from central Arlington Heights were immediately returned. Buffalo Grove firefighter/paramedics and Palatine firefighter/paramedics are automatically due on fire calls at this far north address in Arlington Heights – less than 150 feet south of Lake Cook Road.
Apparently no injuries occurred.
Thunderstorms were in the area with active cloud-to-ground lightning at the time of this incident.
The information in this article is an early report published before any summary information was confirmed or released by police or fire authorities.
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