The blaze destroyed a house in the upscale Riverwoods development in the borough.

The Intelligencer
By: BILL DEVLIN

A two-story home in an upscale New Hope development was destroyed Monday night by a fire that may have been started by a lightning strike.

New Hope Eagle Fire Co. Chief Craig Forbes, who was still at the scene late into the night, said that while the cause of the fire had not yet been determined, a lightning strike may have started the blaze at the West Riverwoods Drive home in the south part of town. Forbes said no one was home at the time of the fire. However, he said a dog was rescued from the home.
A woman held the dog on a leash across the street from the home. She said the dog's name was Blaze.

According to the woman, a neighbor saw flames and called 911. The neighbor told police that a dog was in the house and they used a sledgehammer to break through the front door. She said a police officer went into the house and brought the dog out. Blue and orange flames from a gas line in the rear of the house continued to dance dangerously as crews fired streams of water down onto the home from a ladder truck in the center of the street.

Fire police asked onlookers to move away from the area because of the gas that was burning out of control. PECO crews arrived around 9:30 p.m. and the gas was shut off shortly after 10 p.m.
The roof of the home was destroyed. The rear of the house, where a neighbor said the kitchen and laundry areas were, was also destroyed. Fire trucks from New Hope and Midway lit up the quiet street, causing one onlooker to say it "looked like Christmas" from his house.
Bill Devlin can be reached at 215-345-3179 or wdevlin@phillyBurbs.com
July 13, 2010 02:44 AM

Lightning likely cause of blaze

By BILL DEVLIN
The Intelligencer

While investigators have not yet determined what caused the fire that destroyed a New Hope home Monday night, lightning seems to be the likely suspect. New Hope Eagle Fire Co. Chief Craig Forbes said Tuesday that "all the reports lean toward a lightning strike." West Riverwoods Drive resident Scott McDonald is pretty certain that it was lightning that set off the blaze that ravaged his neighbor's two-story house. McDonald, who lives across the street from the fire scene at 320 W. Riverwoods Drive, said that there were several lightning strikes in the area around 7:30 Monday night.

"A neighbor down the street said he was knocked down in his kitchen when the lightning hit," said McDonald. "A man who lives five houses down said that he could actually feel the heat from the lightning."

Forbes said that the fire had to be burning for some time before firefighters were called to the scene shortly before 8:30 p.m. "The roof collapsed 20 minutes after we arrived, and that is a sign that it (the fire) had to be cooking for a long time," said the chief. Forbes said he believes the fire started on the roof in a back corner of the structure.

A gas line that ruptured and burned freely for about 90 minute before PECO crews cut off the supply was not responsible for the fire, said the chief. No one was injured in the fire, Forbes said. The residents, a husband and wife, were not home. However, Blaze, the family dog, who had been rescued by a New Hope police officer after police and neighbors broke down the door, was euthanized Tuesday. McDonald said the homeowner told him that the dog had suffered serious smoke inhalation and "had to be put to sleep." "(The homeowner) was quite broken up," said McDonald.

A cleanup crew was at the fire scene Tuesday afternoon, fencing off the area. Workers were removing debris from the pool in the rear of the home. Forbes said firefighters were at the scene until 1:30 a.m. Assisting New Hope were Midway, Lambertville, Upper Makefield, Point Pleasant and
Lingohocken.

Bill Devlin can be reached at 215-345-3179 or bdevlin@phillyBurbs.com