Semmes family loses home after lightning strike fire during last week’s severe weather

SEMMES, Ala. (WKRG) — A family in Semmes is trying to get their lives back on track after severe weather destroyed their home one week ago. A lightning strike burned most of what they have.

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Semmes fire chief says they’ve believe this started with a lightning strike during the severe weather from last Wednesday.

Joshua Thomas is a disabled veteran who was injured in Iraq and also lost a leg in a vehicle crash. This happened around noon last Wednesday as severe weather was rolling through Mobile County.

Thomas says he was home with their four children and one friend last week when he heard a noise and then saw smoke starting to bleed through from the ceiling, the fire spread fast–and they had to act fast to make sure everyone got out alive.

“After the second pop that I heard, I went into my bedroom and I couldn’t breathe because of the smoke. And I just started trying to get everyone outside of the house, really didn’t feel anything other than let’s get everybody outside and make sure everybody’s okay,” said Joshua Thomas.

The people got out in time but one of their cats didn’t survive. As for the rest–every room in the house has smoke and water damage. Even Thomas’ prosthetic legs were also damaged.

He says he’s grateful to be alive and thanks the Semmes Fire Department for going above and beyond to help him preserve family keepsakes and military mementos.

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Thomas says the biggest challenge now is finding affordable housing while they wait for insurance claims to come through. If you can help we’ve linked to his Venmo account.

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