IOP firefighters spent hours containing blaze after suspected lightning strike

ISLE OF PALMS — Firefighters remained at a Wild Dunes home well into the early morning hours today after a blaze that started during a Monday evening thunderstorm.

The Isle of Palms Fire Department went to the nearly 40-foot-tall vacation house on 69 Ocean Point shortly after 7:30 p.m. Firefighters initially went inside to attack the flames, but retreated once they sized up the conditions inside, Fire Chief Ann Graham said.

"It was overhead and it was very difficult fire to get to," Graham said. "It was in the attic and it was coming through the roof."

Investigators think lightning caused the fire, based on eyewitness accounts, but were awaiting independent confirmation, she said. Crews spent about two hours bringing the blaze under control and stayed at the scene until 2:30 a.m. putting out hot spots. Sullivan's Island and Mount Pleasant fire departments assisted.

Graham said the homeowners were away at the time. Some portions of the custom home built in 2006 would likely be salvageable, she said, though the insurance company would make the final call.

The National Weather Service recorded a thunderstorm with five to eight lightning strikes per minute near Isle of Palms around the time of the fire. Meteorologist Pete Mohlin said that amount of lightning is typical for a thunderstorm. The forecast for today and tomorrow predicted a 20 percent or smaller chance of rain.

Reach Noah Haglund at 937-5550 or nhaglund@postandcourier.com