Local family staying positive after lightning strike causes house fire

By Kyle Schmidt

A St. Joseph man and his family are thankful they are safe — and for a neighbor’s quick thinking — after an overnight lightning strike set their home ablaze last weekend.

Doug Conrad awoke to a loud sound outside around 1:30 a.m. Saturday. A lightning strike hit a gas meter on the side of his home, but he didn’t know it right away.

“What I’ve been told, it’s all hearsay: When the lightning hit the gas meter, it blew out the safety valve,” Conrad said. “So the gas line was exposed and so when the fire was starting it caught the gas and it kind of threw itself on the house.”

Workers had to dig into the ground to cut off the gas line.

The lightning caused an explosion on impact, which was what woke Conrad up, but because of no instant flames, he and his wife began to fall back asleep. It wasn’t until he heard his neighbor knocking on the door that he knew something was wrong.

“All of a sudden the doorbell was ringing, heard knocks at my door. I got up, I could see nothing but orange out my kitchen window,” Conrad said. “As soon as we got out and came out, within minutes, it was really going.”

Conrad is grateful to his neighbor for looking out for him and his family.

“10 minutes later it could have been bad,” Conrad said. “I really do feel like she saved our life.”

Conrad has received an outpour of support from those around him, which has made the situation more bearable.

“Just everybody that has reached out to us, family, friends, neighbors … It’s been heartwarming the reach out we have been receiving,” he said. “We would just like to thank everyone.”

Despite the tragic situation, Conrad and his wife are holding on to the positives.

“No one got hurt. We got out, and if we have to rebuild, we will rebuild it better,” Conrad said. “At the end of the day, you come to realize it’s just stuff.”

And he’s keeping things light-hearted, too.

“Some people win the Powerball, I get hit by lightning,” Conrad said. “God seems to have that sense of humor when it comes with me.”