NORTHAMPTON — Lightning struck a home on Ridgewood Terrace last weekend, causing a fire to break out and forcing its residents to temporarily relocate.
The incident occurred around 3 p.m. on Saturday, when heavy thunderstorms rolled through the Pioneer Valley, causing damage and even sightings of tornadoes in central parts of the state.
Niko Letendre-Cahillane, who lives at the address, was out in the city when received a phone call from his wife that their house had been struck by lightning, and that a fire had broken out.
“I drove home as quick as I could, even though we had flash flooding in the streets,” Letendre-Cahillane said in an interview with the Gazette. “There were fire trucks already there by the time I got home.”
The lightning had struck the house’s chimney, Letendre-Cahillane said, and had caused a fire to break out in the attic. Firefighters had to remove the roofing in order to quell the flames.
No one was injured as a result of the lightning strike. After staying at an AirBnB for several days, Letendre-Cahillane said he, his wife and dogs have been able to find an apartment in the city to live in for the time being.
“Rents are not cheap here,” he said. “But we were lucky enough to find a place to stay.”
Letendre-Cahillane is running for Ward 1 against candidates Gwen Nabad and Michele Ronco to replace the departing Stanley Moulton. Letendre-Cahillane also said there would be no interruptions in his campaign despite the forced relocation.
“We’re still in it to win it,” he said. “We have a bunch of great volunteers who can help pick up the pace.”
Letendre-Cahillane also thanked Northampton Fire Rescue for their quick response that helped preserve the structure of the home. He said that he hoped to move back in six to eight months and that he was meeting with insurance agents to help cover the cost of remodeling.
Letendre-Cahillane is one of more than a dozen candidates who are running in preliminary elections to put on the final municipal ballot. The preliminary elections will be held on Sept. 16, while the final municipal election will take place on Nov. 4.