Lightning blamed for Friday house fire

A bolt of lightning Friday ignited the attic area of a house at the 1100 block of east Wall Street, causing severe damage to the two story structure.

Shortly after 10:30 p.m., Fort Scott fire and police responded to 1102 E. Wall St. in reference to the structure fire.

Three people occupied the house when fire broke out in the attic area. Neighbors who saw lightning strike the house notified the owner, Roxine Poznich, who was home with two others when the fire started. Emergency workers helped get the three safely out of the house.

No one was injured during the incident. However, the occupants told officials they thought a cat was inside the house at the time of the fire. It's unknown whether the cat survived.

The fire poured down the house from the attic, resulting in heavy smoke and fire. A few firefighters entered the initially but them backed out and fought the fire from a defensive standpoint, Fort Scott Public Safety Director Jeff Davis said. Firefighters fought flames for a good couple of hours, said Davis, who was at the scene along with 11 FSFD firefighters and about nine Scott Township District No. 5 firefighters.

Firefighters cleared the scene around 9:30 a.m. Saturday.