BARRE, Vt. -
Update: Around 8:45 Tuesday morning Barre City firefighters were called out to a home on Allen Street.
The home caught fire as a thunder storm rolled through the area.
"Lightning definitely struck something on the house," said Tina Lang.
Lang was home at the time.
"I heard like a big explosion," said Lang.
Lang grabbed her dog and ran out of the house.
While she was able to save her animal that wasn't the case for the majority of her things.
"Shocked. I think I'm still in shock."
The Allen Street fire was just the beginning.
A half-hour later a call came in of another fire less than a mile away on Liberty Street.
And about 30 minutes after that a third fire called in on nearby Waterman Street.
"Three fires that close together with the potential of all 3 being lightning. That's very odd," said Barre Fire Chief Tim Bombardier.
As crews worked on the 3 fires in the area another unexpected emergency call came in.
This time they say it was a bomb threat to Spaulding High School and with many of them working on the fires around the area there was hardly anyone to send.
Bombadier says normally police and fire would go to the bomb threat but only one officer was free to go.
That caused the school to shut down for the day.
Even though school might be impacted for a day Lang says Tuesday's storms will leave a lasting impact.
"I've never had this happen and I don't want it to happen to anybody. It's awful."
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Firefighters from throughout central Vermont are converging on the city of Barre where three fires were reported in homes within minutes of each other.
The fires were reported Tuesday morning after a series of thunderstorms passed through the region.
Mayor Thomas Lauzon says officials believe lightning strikes caused the fires, although a final determination has not been made.
Lauzon says two homes off U.S. Route 302, on Liberty and Waterman streets, were damaged by the fires. A 200-year-old farmhouse on Allen Street in a different section of the city was fully engulfed in flames when crews arrived. He says the fire in the farmhouse was reported by a passer-by, which delayed the response by firefighters.
No human injuries have been reported, although a number of pets are missing.
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
