Firefighters from St. Anne’s rushed North as yesterday’s storm  (Sunday 9th July) hit Lancashire. They joined their colleagues from Wesham, Bispham, and South Shore in a call-out to a blaze in Pheasants Wood, Thornton-Cleveleys.  An aerial ladder platform from Blackpool was also in attendance.

Photographs shared on social media show clouds of smoke coming from the roof of a domestic property on Bluebell Close.

One eyewitness wrote: ‘Lightning struck a house Bluebell Close, Pheasants Wood, Thornton-Cleveleys.’ Another commented, ‘I was stood on my doorstep having a cigarette watching the lightning …. Won’t be doing that again. You could see one bit of forked lightning over Pheasants Wood (I’m not far) and it was fierce. I’m so glad no one was hurt but how devastating for them as a family.’

Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service said: ‘At 16:11 on the 9th of July 2023, four fire engines from St. Anne’s, Bispham, South Shore, Wesham and an aerial ladder platform from Blackpool attended an incident on Bluebell Close, Thornton Cleveleys. The fire involved a domestic property. Firefighters used four breathing apparatus, two hose reel jets to extinguish the fire, crews were in attendance for one hour.’

At the time of writing no injuries have been reported.

Photographs by John Boy Hinds