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Family describes what happened inside home struck by lightning 12:44 PM | Photos
04:51 PM EDT on Friday, May 19, 2006
6NEWS Firefighters estimate the damage is over $125,000. 
GASTONIA – A bolt of lightning blew the bricks off a chimney and caught a house on fire all while one family member was inside.
It happened in Gastonia on Beacon Hills Drive Thursday.
Firefighters said the left side of the house was hit by a lightning bolt around 6:30 p.m Thursday night. It took them around 30 minutes to control the blaze.
The family's youngest daughter, Angela Tyszka, was in the living room when the house was hit. Her mother Angela recounted what her daughter felt and saw.
"She saw like a blue ball kind of dancing around the house, then the hairs on her arms started standing up and the hairs on her head. It scared her to death and we were on our way back so we put our flashers on, came as fast as we could and when we got here it was kind of smoking, the bricks here were all the way in the driveway, all the way on the road," homeowner Angela Tyszka said.
Neighbors said they also heard a loud boom and saw a big ball of fire.
Friday the Tyszka family was going through the house and salvaging what they could because the house is not livable. They were also waiting for their insurance adjuster to arrive.
The family said they were very grateful to the Gastonia Fire Department because they saved many of their possessions, including irreplaceable family photos.
According to firefighters the damage estimate is over $125,000.
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