Lightning strike sparks fire in couple’s dream home in Elk River

ELK RIVER, Minn. (FOX 9) – Bob Bostrom is a carpenter by trade and built his dream home by hand nearly 25 years ago. But seeing the house at 192 1/2 Street in Elk River, where he and his wife raised their children, become a burned-out ruin is almost unbearable.

“It was pretty tough watching it go up in smoke. A lot of emotions. A lot of tears,” Bostrom said.

What happened?

Bostrom said the couple had just returned home from dinner around 7:30 p.m. on Monday when lightning struck a skylight at the front of the house, sending pieces of the ceiling and a lamp flying onto the living room floor.

“Sparks were flying everywhere. Wood panels were flying everywhere. The television in front of me exploded. I had just turned it on,” Bostrom said.

Bostrom ran outside and noticed first smoke and then flames in the attic. He grabbed a garden hose to try to keep the fire at bay.

His wife, Terri, suffered a burn to her leg from melted cable insulation when she went back into the house to get the three dogs that were hiding in a bedroom closet.

“It still seems unreal to me. I can physically see what happened, but my mind doesn’t believe it really happened,” Terri said.

Bostrom says the roof was engulfed in flames in no time and firefighters had to truck in fire extinguishers from a block away because there were no fire hydrants on the dead-end street.

What remains?

Rescue workers were able to save some valuable belongings.

“Her father’s ashes, my brother’s ashes. Some pictures, jewelry. Memorabilia like that,” Bostrom said.

But due to fire, smoke and water damage, the house is a total loss, according to Bostrom.

What happens next?

“I knew it was gone. I knew this was it. They’re not going to stop this,” Bostrom said.

Bostrom says they plan to rebuild in the same spot because what are the chances of lightning striking twice.

Some firefighters were diagnosed with heat stroke while fighting the fire, but none of them required further treatment.