Investigators determine lightning strike resulted in fire, nearly $2 million damage at home in Ballantyne County Club

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – A lightning strike resulted in a fire that caused nearly $2 million in damage to a house in Ballantyne Country Club Saturday afternoon, investigators determined.

Firefighters were called to the three-story home on Rudolph Dadey Drive shortly before 5 p.m.

Officials said the fire was called in as a lightning strike.

Investigators determined that a lightning strike was the cause.

It took more than 60 firefighters to extinguish the fire in about 80 minutes.

Bill Schuler, who lives at the home, said someone was at the home at the time of the fire.

“There was someone in the house at the time,” Schuler said. “They heard it, walked around immediately, didn’t even see that there was any damage or fires until they walked around the outside. There was no apparent damage. They walked around the inside until they got to the third floor and they were engulfed in smoke.”

There were no injuries reported in the fire, according to Charlotte Fire Captain Dennis Gist.

Bill Schuler and his family have lived at the home for 20 years.

Their roof is now scorched.

The house is more than 10,000 square feet.

Officials said a second alarm was called because of the hot weather and the size of the house. A third alarm was called as well.

CFD says extra ‘manpower’ helps rotate firefighters out to cool down.

MEDIC is taking on scene helping rehab firefighters once they’ve been inside. MEDIC’s bus was at the scene to provide a cool place for firefighters to cool down, according to Gist.

“The first responders were second to none,” Schuler said.

Schuler says he’s thankful everyone is OK and he’s grateful for all of the work firefighters did to try and save his belongings.

“This is stuff, it’s my house, I’m upset by it, but I’d never even felt it wasn’t that emotional until I actually walked through to see the damage, but more importantly you see what firefighters did to protect,” Schuler said. “I mean they put tarps on things to protect it from water damage.”

Gist said a mayday was called in after a firefighter was in distress, but the firefighter was able to leave the home safely.

No other information was provided.

Nearly two years ago, in the same neighborhood, a home exploded, caused by an interior gas leak. A woman died from the explosion and her husband was injured.

Copyright 2021 WBTV. All rights reserved.