Lightning Fire Destroys Home on Essex Road

A lightning fire consumed a house at 1181 Essex Road around 2:15 p.m. Monday, authorities reported.

Mahlon and Evelyn Holland had been home only 15 minutes after returning from a weekend getaway when the storm began, Lisa Dawson, one of the Hollands' daughters said Tuesday morning. A few minutes following the lightning strike, her father checked the attic and discovered smoke and flames.  The couple was able to escape uninjured.

"It's all been lost,"  she said. "I'm just relieved they made it out safely."

Thirty Oconee County firefighters arrived to find fire venting out of one end of the house and heavy billowing smoke, Fire Chief Bruce Thaxton said. They battled the blaze with the help of two engines, five tankers, two rescue trucks, and one command vehicle, he said, adding that National EMS and American Red Cross volunteers were also on the scene. Tankers shuttled water several miles from the nearest fire hydrant, he reported.

Though the house was a total loss, firefighters were able to recover some belongings, Thaxton said.

Dawson said clothes and photographs were among the salvaged items.  In particular one recovered belonging carried deep sentimental value.

The Hollands have been married for 52 years, and a symbol of their love was almost lost forever.  Evelyn's white gold wedding band that was clipped to her watch had been resting on a piece of furniture in the master bedroom when the lightning hit.  Once the flames were extinguished, her husband and others combed the room and found the ring tucked beneath a piece of fallen ceiling. 

"It was the good moment in all of it," Dawson said with tears in her eyes.

The Hollands have moved temporarily to a nearby vacant house owned by the family, she said.