Lightning strike ignites New Berlin home during thunderstorms

NEW BERLIN - A New Berlin home caught fire June 18 after being struck by lightning, according to police.

Emergency crews were called to the 15393 W. Grange Avenue at 3:46 p.m. for a house fire, according to a New Berlin Police Department news release. The second floor of the two-story home caught fire after apparently being hit by lightning.

All occupants exited safely and fire crews were able to extinguish the fire in 15 minutes. One firefighter was hospitalized for several hours for smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion, according to Scott Gillard, the assistant chief of the New Berlin Fire Department.

Two occupants in their 70s have been displaced and are staying with family, Gillard said. Fire Chief Lloyd Bertram said the home suffered "very little structural damage."

According to Waukesha County property records, the home is owned by Joseph and Barbara Gajewski.

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Gillard said the home was built in the 1890s, which made it difficult and time-consuming for firefighters to enter the second floor, which he called an attic, because of the "lath and plaster, balloon-framed construction."

The June 18 thunderstorms knocked out power for thousands of Milwaukee-area residents, downed power lines and led to another lightning strike of a home in Greendale, although it did not start a fire there.