A family of three escaped from their house in Watford early this morning (Thursday, May 2) after it was struck by lightning.
Ali Shah, 59, said a woman walking past their house banged on the door to raise the alarm, allowing him, his wife and daughter to escape.
Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service sent four engines and an aerial platform to the detached house on Cassiobury Drive at around 5.24am.
Mr Shah, a technology consultant, said: “The thunderstorm woke us up and it tripped some of the electrics. The alarm started beeping. I reset the alarm.
“I thought nothing more of it and went back to bed and 10 minutes later, I heard a banging on the door. My wife said don’t answer it. I came down and a woman said there was smoke billowing out of your house, you need to get out now.
“We got out and a policeman happened to come by and said get everyone out now. He said he had seen the smoke as he went by. To their credit, the fire brigade were really quick; they turned up in five to six minutes.
“There is a lot of damage, but it could have been far worse. The fire officer said if that lady had not knocked on the door and we had gone back to sleep, the roof could have collapsed on us.
“We are unbelievably fortunate.”
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