In what was seen as a rare occurrence and a first in Apopka’s history, four house fires occurred within a two-hour span in one evening – all caused by lightning strikes.
On the night of Sunday, June 15, a lightning storm struck four houses on the west side of Apopka: the first two on Alexandria Place, the third on Offaly Court and the fourth on Rock Hill Loop. All of the houses were destroyed, including one that was vacant.
No residence occupants were injured, but two firefighters suffered smoke inhalation from two separate house fires and were treated and released from the hospital.
“Our crews responded effectively to structure fires and maintained emergency medical services throughout the severe weather,” Fire Chief Wil Sanchez said in a statement. “I am deeply grateful for their dedication to protecting our community, even under the most challenging circumstances, and it makes me incredibly proud to serve alongside them.”
The first emergency call came in at 8:59 p.m. for two house fires on the 100 block of Alexandria Place. Apopka firefighters discovered an active house fire and quickly put it out.
Less than an hour later, at 9:53 p.m., another lightning strike hit a third home in the 900 block of Offaly Court. Again, Apopka crews responded and brought that fire under control.
The third call came in at 11:09 p.m., when lightning struck the fourth and final house in the 4000 block of Rock Hill Loop. Firefighters worked late into the night to extinguish that fire.
“Every station was in full crisis mode out there,” Mayor Bryan Nelson said in an interview. “Fortunately, nobody got hurt… Everything was fine, but it was all hands on deck. Every fire truck every pump truck we had was out, putting out fires.”
The response to a building fire depends on many elements, including the building’s size, complexity of the situation, initial fire conditions reported and occupancy type, according to Jerold Maynard, AFD division chief of life safety.
“When we received multiple fire calls within that two-hour timeframe, our primary focus immediately shifted to ensuring adequate coverage for each incident while maintaining emergency response capability for the rest of our community,” he said in a statement. “Our command staff was in constant communication to coordinate personnel and equipment deployment effectively.”
As the night carried on, Orange County Fire Rescue assisted the AFD in extinguishing the fires. The AFD was grateful for the county’s help during these emergency calls.
“This partnership is built on mutual commitment and extends beyond emergency response through regular joint training, shared resources and expertise, and open communication that allows both departments to operate as extensions of each other when circumstances demand it,” Maynard said. “Our firefighters and Orange County Fire Rescue personnel demonstrated seamless teamwork that transformed a challenging night into an exemplification of the dedicated emergency services our two agencies work together to provide.”
State fire investigators are verifying the cause of the fire at Alexandria Place.
“It was a, really, freak storm that you never saw it coming and obviously, hopefully, never see it again,” Nelson said.
—J.C. Derrick contributed to this report.
The Apopka Chief and The Planter are weekly community newspapers, independently owned and family operated, that have served the greater Apopka area in Central Florida since 1923 and 1965 respectively.
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