It's said that lighting never strikes the same place twice.

But on Tuesday morning, firefighters worked to battle lighting–caused fires on not one, but two, Maple Grove homes.

"It's pretty stressful," said Mark Hassenstab, one of the affected homeowners. Lightning hit the Hassenstab residence on Urbandale Lane at about 5:30 a.m. 

"I think we were kind of questioning going back to bed then we thought it was pretty bad so we came outside and saw that the front. We looked up at the house and saw that it was on fire," Mark said, along with his wife, Jennifer.

Now, the newlyweds' self–described dream home is a charred replica of its former glory.

"It's kind of sad to see it not exactly the way we bought it six months ago," they said.

Three miles away, lighting struck the home on 62nd Ave N at approximately 7:30 a.m.

"I was cooking an egg and I just kind of looked outside and saw the neighbor and saw a little bit of smoke," said Thomas Cameron, a neighbor.

That little bit of smoke evolved into towering flames which engulfed the entire roof.

"We tried to go in and work on it from the inside, but the fire was too intense in the attic and things were eventually starting to collapse, so we pulled everybody out," said Maple Grove Fire Chief Scott Anderson.

Neither the firefighters nor the homeowners were hurt.

Neighbors, however, experienced a sense of deja vu.

"Probably the most ironic thing is this house burnt down literally nine years ago," Cameron said.

In October of 2003, the house that stood on this exact spot was also struck by lighting and caused extensive damage, according to Chief Anderson.

"They rebuilt it," Cameron said. "New owners this time."

But still, unfortunate proof that lighting really can strike the same place twice.

Meantime on Urbandale Lane, the Hassenstab's breath a sigh of relief.

"There's just a lot of tragedies, so I think we're very fortunate, pretty optimistic," Mark and Jennifer said. "I mean, we're rattled, but it's not the end of the world."


Delane Cleveland, reporting
dcleveland@twelve.tv

July 24, 2012