Vershire Home Damaged in Fire Likely Caused by Lightning

Firefighters responded to a third-alarm fire on Tuesday night at an unoccupied home on Taylor Valley Road in Vershire. Homeowner Donna Goldberg bought the house in the early 1990s and lives nearby. She was at her other home when she heard lightning strike around 6:15 p.m. When she checked on the house, she saw flames coming from the second floor and called the fire department. A firefighter on the scene late Tuesday night indicated lightning may have traveled down a wall of the house and into an in-ground hot water heater. Crews had difficulty getting water to the house as they had to run hoses up the 1/4-mile-long driveway. Goldberg had been renovating the property. “Now it really needs renovating,” she said. (Valley News - Geoff Hansen) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Valley News — Geoff Hansen

After cutting away an area of cedar shake siding with a chainsaw firefighters examine where lightning was suspected to have traveled down the side of Donna Goldberg’s house on Taylor Valley Road in Vershire, Vt., on July 17, 2018. The early 1970s-era house was unoccupied, undergoing renovations and is insured. (Valley News - Geoff Hansen) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Geoff Hansen