Lightning strike ignites Cusick home

CUSICK — Lightning struck a Cusick home on Highway 20 Sunday, May 17, igniting a fire that nearly destroyed the structure.

The lightning struck at about 4:23 p.m. while the residing family, including a paraplegic patient, were home. A fire ignited in the attic, and intense heat and energy from the lightning strike caused the fire to spread rapidly through the attic and down the walls in the two minutes before Pend Oreille Fire District No. 2 personnel and apparatus arrived on scene.