Crime & Safety

Lightning Strike, House Fire Don't Stop One Graduate

No one was injured in a Broomall house fire Thursday and the one person inside later accepted his diploma at Marple Newtown High School's graduation ceremony.

A lightning strike caused a house fire in Broomall Thursday morning on the same day as the family's son celebrated his high school graduation.

No one was injured in the fire, according to officials.

Fire crews responded to a two-story house on the 100 block of Beechtree Drive at about 9:52 a.m. Thursday and found heavy fire in the area of the first floor laundry room and fire traveled to the floors above, according to Broomall Fire Co. Public Information Officer Tony Cavarocchi

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Crews held the fire to the laundry room area and two second-floor bedrooms directly above, according to Cavarocchi, but there was extensive smoke and heat damage throughout the house.
 
The homeowners were not home at the time of the fire. However, their teenage son, Vincent Fabrizio, was at home and escaped without injury, along with the family's German Shepherd dog, Magnem, according to Cavarocchi.

Fabrizio is a senior at Marple Newtown High School, which held its Commencement ceremony Thursday night and Patch caught up with the graduate to find out what happened.

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Fabrizio said he was watching television in his basement when he heard the thunder and soon after the house's smoke alarm went off. He said he went to the laundry and there flames coming from the wall and burning a recycling bag full of newspapers.

He immediately dialed 911 but the land-line phone quickly cut off. Fabrizio said he went to grab his cell phone but the smoke became too thick and he knew it was time to leave the house.

"I got the dog and got out of the house and went to our neighbor's," Fabrizio said.

Fire crews were there immediately and did a great job extinguishing the blaze, he said, but the house suffered major damage.

"I called my mom from my neighbor's house and told her the house was on fire and she said, 'the house is on fire?!' She drove home and was crying, all upset," Fabrizio said.

He said fire officials told him lightning struck power lines that went into the house, which caused the wires inside the house to ignite through the walls and then caught the bag of newspapers, spreading it even further.

"And on graduation day, of all days," Fabrizio said.

Fabrizio said Thursday night he hadn't been home since the blaze but he was in good spirits celebrating his milestone.

Fabrizio, who also will celebrate his 19th birthday on Saturday, will attend Delaware County Community College before attending Full Sail University, a music business college, in Florida.

Along with Broomall Fire Co., Newtown Square, Rose Tree, Manoa, BonAir and the Marple Township Ambulance responded to the fire scene. Fire Police from Broomall and Newtown Square Fire Departments also responded.

Chief Carl Drake of Broomall Fire Company was the Incident Commander.


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