A lightning strike caused a hedge on Arapaepae Road in Levin to catch fire.
A lightning strike caused a hedge on Arapaepae Road in Levin to catch fire.
A bolt of lightning that struck just metres away from a heavily populated retirement village sparked a fire that lit up the night sky last night.
The lightning bolt set ablaze a line of trees near a property on State Highway One near Levin, a short distance away from Margaret’s bedroom window.
Margaret described hearing a loud crack and long and continuous bout of thunder. She woke to the boom, but it was only after a passing motorist knocked on her door that she realised the tall hedge line was ablaze.
“There was a knock at the door - it was the middle of the night. He was a stranger, so I yelled out ‘who is it?” she said.
“I said ‘thanks’, not even thinking how bad it was.”
A lightning strike caused a hedge on Arapaepae Road in Levin to catch fire.
Passing motorists and nearby residents alerted Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) services who were promptly at the scene, which neighbours a construction site where an extension to the existing Masonic village is being built. A large amount of heavy machinery was parked nearby.
Fenz’s Barry Madgwick said three crews battled the blaze, which was doused within an hour.
Margaret also praised the work of the Levin Fire and Emergency crews. They returned the next day and doused the embers.
“They were very good,” she said.
“It was scary because it was so close to the shed. It was moving and getting closer to the house. That was the scary bit. But they got it under control.”
The lightning strike hit the property behind Pam Brown's back fence. She likened the noise to the sound of a WWII bomb. Photo / Paul Williams
Neighbour Pam Brown lives at the Masonic Village retirement home, which backs onto the fire. She was still awake when the lightning struck and had a front row seat of the fire from her sun room.
Brown, 93, said she had never heard a sound like it. The only thing she could relate it to was the sound bombs she heard as a young girl growing up in the south of London during World War II.
“There was dreadful thunder in the distance and I thought, ‘I could do without that. That’s too close for comfort’,” she said.
“Then, suddenly, there this noise, like an enormous explosion. The window lit up. I thought I’ve got to ring the fire brigade. I was concerned about the house nearby.”
“I was trembling like a leaf. I was ever so shaky. It was awful. I had to make a cup of coffee to settle my nerves.”
Several of her neighbours spoken to by the Horowhenua Chronicle had slept through the storm. Masonic Village manager Mary Burnett said it was fortunate the lightning strike caused relatively limited damage.
The row of trees near Arapaepae Road didn't fare too badly, considering they were set ablaze the night before by the lightning strike. Photo / Paul Williams
- Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ on Air.
