Lightning starts Rye garage fire

July 31--A lightning-caused garage fire at a home in Rye Tuesday afternoon did approximately $25,000 worth of damage.

A deputy with the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office was sent to the garage fire, which was caused by a lightning strike during a rainstorm, at a home on the 6600 block of Pickney Road around 4:30 p.m.

Tuesday, according to a sheriff's office report.

When the deputy arrived, he noticed firefighters from the Rye Fire Department were spraying water on the ceiling trusses in an area that was partitioned off as a separate room from the traditional garage.

There was visible fire damage on the southwest corner of the garage. The ceiling had been torn down by firefighters to gain access to the smoldering areas.

Within the garage and separate room were highdollar items including tools and machinery. Some of them sustained water damage from the surge of the fire hose and spillage from the attic.

The property owner said he did not have insurance on the garage and he estimated the total damage to be $25,000.

The homeowner said he didn't see the lightning strike. He showed fire officials a concrete floor that was cracked from the lightning hitting the ground.

Power outage

Residents and businesses in the Beulah area were without power Wednesday afternoon and evening due to a lightning strike that damaged a transmission line in the area, according to San Isabel Electric Association.

The general areas without power were Beulah, North Creek, 3R Road, Siloam Road and Colorado 78 down Water Barrel Road.

A total of 1,172 accounts were affected by the outage, San Isabel Electric said.

ryans@chieftain.com

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