While vacationing in Colorado, a Castle Hills couple got the devastating news their home was on fire. They returned to find it destroyed by a lightning strike, losing irreplaceable memories, but gaining powerful support from their community. NBC 5’s Candace Sweat has more.
A Castle Hills couple on vacation over the holiday weekend got a call in the middle of the night that their house was on fire. They returned to North Texas with just the clothes in their suitcases to find their home charred by a lightning strike.
Some items can be replaced. Some moments, however, simply can’t be recreated. Mark and Gail Finn understand that now more than ever.
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WATCH HERE“We had so many guests come through and relatives,” said Mark Finn. “We had a wedding here for a friend. I walked her down the stairs, and it was a good group here, and everybody came out here and threw the rice.”
The house that held those moments is now rubble. They were in Colorado when the call came overnight.
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SIGN UP “It was just devastating to get woken up to that information,” said Gail Finn.
The Finns said they were in a panic, a state of shock, and nearly in tears as they booked a flight back to North Texas. Cellphone footage captured a neighbor running over as flames burst from the roof. They said fire crews confirmed it was the result of a lightning strike as storms rolled through.
“I never really knew lightning could burn down a house,” said Mark Finn. “I just didn’t know. I thought it could strike it and damage it, but I never knew it could burn a house to the ground like that.”
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They now know firsthand how quickly a storm can change everything. They also know the power of a caring community.
“We’ve received hundreds of messages from strangers that we’ve never met,” said Gail Finn. “It’s a great community, and new friends feel like they’re family now.”
The Finns told NBC 5 they hope to rebuild in the same neighborhood. Whatever they decide, they said their next home will have a lightning rod installed.
NBC 5 also spoke with a local lightning rod company about an uptick in installation requests following recent storms.
"The lightning rods will intercept that bolt and will follow that cable like a train on a railroad track right into the ground,” said Lawrence “Larry” Breecher with Superior Lightning Protection.
Breecher said an extra layer of protection is a fraction of the cost of losing a home.
