Fiery Summer Storm Lightning Hits Houses

A fierce summer squall that rolled over the South Fork Friday night did more than end a two-week dry spell that had wilted gardens and left wooded areas and lawns parched.

Lightning that accompanied the thunderstorm caused serious damage when it started a fire in a Sag Harbor condominium. Lightning also caused several other minor fires when it struck at least four houses and a utility pole from East Hampton to Amagansett.

Wind gusts of up to 40 miles per hour knocked out power in hundreds of houses in East Hampton, and the storm caused some anxious moments for about 80 canoeists who found themselves in the middle of Sagg Pond.

Phone Blown Apart

The storm resulted from a Canadian cold front dislodging hot air that had lingered for nine days, pushing temperatures above 90 degrees on six of them, said Richard Hendrickson, a United States Weather Observer from Bridgehampton. "Once we get in the heat of summer, these squalls pop up and can do considerable damage," he said.

Robert and Elizabeth Early, who live in the Sag Harbor Villas on West Water Street, can attest to that. They were home playing bridge at about 10 p.m. when a lightning bolt struck an outdoor telephone jack on their deck and followed the phone line inside.

"It blew the phone apart and zapped a metal chain that was connected to the blinds," said Sag Harbor Fire Chief Dirk Early. From there, the current spread to heating ducts in a crawl space, igniting floor joists. "Luckily the people were in the building and saw the flames shooting through the vents," Chief Early said.

A Good Stop

Firefighters, equipped with oxygen masks and working in teams of two, entered the smoke-filled crawl space through a small opening on the side of the building. "We were able to knock the fire down quickly. It was a good stop," he said. "Once it gets in between those floor joists you don't know where it's going."

John Rankin, a Southampton Town fire marshal, said the damage was serious enough for him to order the Earlys out of their house until repairs could be made. He estimated that 15 to 20 trusses supporting the first floor were burned badly enough to cause "structural instability."

Mr. Rankin said lightning also struck the condominium's chimney, causing minor damage. Three other condominiums in the same building were not damaged, he added.

"That Somebody Was Me"

Leonilda Tartaglia, 91, a resident of the mobile home park on Oakview Highway in East Hampton, was reading in bed when she was startled by "a terrific crack."

" 'My God,' I thought, 'that's a terrible one. I'm sure someone close by got it,' " she said. "I was right. That somebody was me."

With her lights out and her trailer filling with smoke, Mrs. Tartaglia dialed her next door neighbor, Todd Carberry. "He came right over in that pouring rain and got me out," she said.

The East Hampton Fire Department made quick work of the fire, which burned a couch and a section of paneling. Chief Steve Griffiths said "there was a good chance" lightning caused the fire, but he added he would wait for the fire marshal's report before reaching that conclusion.

Mrs. Tartaglia spent the night in a neighbor's trailer, where she slept fitfully. "These things go up like tinder," she said. "I'm lucky to be alive."

"We were keeping an eye on the weather," said Mike Bottini of the Group for the South Fork, who had organized an evening canoe trip on Sagg Pond, starting at 6 p.m. One storm front, which caused considerable damage UpIsland and caused the closing of East Hampton beaches that afternoon, blew in and out. "We shoved off with clear skies," Mr. Bottini said.

The canoeing party, which numbered approximately 80 people, including about a dozen children, set off from the bridge at Sagaponack Road. They paddled to Sagg Main Beach, where they enjoyed a barbecue. After nightfall, several groups of canoeists and kayakers started the return trip while others lingered.

Sought Refuge

"Most of the people made it back to their cars," said Mr. Bottini. "But another group didn't quite make it back." When the storm hit, some of the stragglers sought refuge at Bridge Lane. Others brought their canoes ashore.

First Assistant Chief Dave Dakers of the Bridgehampton Fire Department called out the department's rescue boat and stationed fire police with floodlights and radios at the Sagaponack Road bridge to try to account for everyone.

"We didn't know how many people were caught," he said. "We just thought it was good to have our people around in case." Though there were some nervous moments, everyone apparently made it ashore without incident.

The Amagansett Fire Department also responded to a lightning strike at the house of John and Anna Accumanno on Dolphin Drive shortly after 10 p.m.

"It just blew a hole in the roof," said Chief Bill Vorpahl. "It caused a little burn damage to the roof and interior."

While the department was at the scene, "a guy came from one block over and said his house had been hit, too," Chief Vorpahl said. He added that damage to the house on Leeton Road, whose owners could not be identified by press time, was also not serious.

"I can't remember so much lightning," Chief Vorpahl said. "We were at the first call, with a couple guys on the roof, when I said, 'We should get off of here real quick,' because there were still lightning bolts around."

Like A Grucci Finale

Lightning also struck driveway lights at the house of Ruth Benzenberg on Swamp Road in East Hampton shortly before 10 p.m. "Two of the lights were blown right out of the ground," she said. A couple of minor brush fires also ignited along her drive way.

"The noise - that was the scariest thing," said Ms. Benzenberg. By the time three members of the East Hampton Fire Department arrived to investigate, the heavy rain had put the fires out, she said.

Phil McSweeney, a resident of Old Stone Highway in Springs, said lightning struck a utility pole across the street from his house.

"It was sort of like a Grucci finale up close and personal," he said. "There was a large explosion and a lot of sparks. The wires fell into a wooded area across the street."

Crop Saver

The Springs Fire Department doused the brush fire, but power, while spared at the McSweeney residence, was knocked out across the neighborhood.

Stefanie Gossin, a spokeswoman for the Long Island Lighting Company, said winds and lightning accounted for many of the power outages on the East End. About 700 houses in East Hampton lost power during Friday's storm, about 600 of them in Springs, she said. In Southampton Town, 3,100 houses lost power, most of them in Hampton Bays.

Mr. Hendrickson said .81 inches of rain fell at his Lumber Lane house on Friday. A second rainfall, early Tuesday morning, dropped another .94 inches, he said.

The rain was a "crop saver" and would lessen the risk of brush and forest fires, according to Mr. Hendrickson. "There was no rain since the second of July," he said. "I never saw the leaves of the corn curl so tight and point so high. It looked like asparagus."