Lightning strike ignites roof at apartment complex near Polaris

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Overnight storms Wednesday in Columbus brought heavy rain and lots of lightning and one of those lightning strikes started a large fire on the far north side.

Columbus fire crews were sent to the The Avenue at Polaris Apartments just after 12:45 a.m. on reports of a large fire on Indianapolis Drive. A portion of the roof of the complex was fully engulfed in flames and has been damaged from the outside. A fire lieutenant confirmed that the cause of the fire was a lightning strike.

Crews were able to get the fire out but three firefighters were taken to a hospital for smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion. They are all in good condition, per Columbus fire. Around 50 residents were displaced from the apartment complex because of the fire.

Residents of the complex told NBC4 that smoke alarms did not go off and they were only aware there was a fire by seeing trucks outside and smelling smoke. Columbus fire lieutenant Nicholas Davis said they will look into the building code but that occurrence is possible depending on when the complex was built.

“If it was on the second floor, and the fire was above the smoke detectors, they probably weren’t able to detect the smoke, but our investigators are going to look at that, look at the code,” said Lt. Davis.