CHATEAUGAY -- Lightning never strikes twice, eh?

Try telling that to Chateaugay volunteer firefighters.

They were called out at 2:30 in the morning Thursday for back-to-back fires within seven minutes of each other. Each had been sparked by lightning from a brief but destructive electrical storm.

Chief Jerry Blow said the first call came at 2:30 a.m. from Ann Willette at Franklin County Road 35.

A flash of lightning fried a television in a bedroom, filling the mobile home with smoke.

"All we had to do there was carry the TV out of the trailer," Blow said.

But at 2:37 a.m., the volunteers were dispatched to the home of Peter Hansen at 40 Church St., where a lightning bolt struck the garage, setting it on fire.

The household items stored inside were destroyed, but the structure itself is still sound, Blow said.

"They got in there quickly and knocked it down really well," the chief said of his team, who received mutual aid from firefighters from Churubusco, Burke and Malone Callfiremen.

Hansen is insured for his loss, Blow said.

Firefighters reported back to their stations at 4:20 a.m.

Blow said it was "the first time in a long time" a fire had been ignited by a lightning strike.

"It was a quick storm. In fact, by the time we got to the scene, the storm was already done. It had come in, done its damage and gone."

draymo@pressrepublican.com