DENVER — Three homes were hit by lightning and RTD suspended a couple of train lines Thursday afternoon when thunderstorms moved through the foothills into the metro area and continued moving towards the northeastern plains.
The first strike happened in Broomfield on West 154th Avenue around 4 p.m. A family was home when their home was hit and they called 911.
"They got out safely with their dog and there were no injuries," said Sara Farris with North Metro Fire. "Now crews are doing an overhaul on the house, pulling down the ceiling and putting out hot spots. Crews on the scene believe it was started by lightning. The building inspector is going out to the house to figure out if the family can stay or not stay in their house tonight."
The second lightning strike to hit happened around 4:30 p.m. in Evergreen. The home hit is on Denver View Drive.
The homeowners called 911 and evacuated. Firefighters didn't find any fire, but they did find a hole in the side of the house.
> Below: Listen to the loud crack of lightning strikes that hit in the Evergreen area. A homeowner captured the loud bangs on their home's surveillance camera.
The third call for a lightning strike hitting a home happened in Erie at around 4:30 p.m. Firefighters told the homeowners that lightning did hit the home.
“Today was my unlucky day,” said Sandeep Gundlupet Raju about his home in Erie. “There’s damage to the bedroom and underneath in the garage and the roof. I’m doing okay. Really disappointed with this. It’s so awful that it happened. But luckily no one was at home.”
> Below: Security camera from a neighbor captured the loud boom as lightning struck the home.
RTD had to suspend its E line trains between Colorado Station and Ridgegate Station due to lighting in the area. H line service was completely suspended. The lines were reopened and service resumed around 6 p.m.
The potential for severe weather was much more serious on the Eastern Plains, where at least one tornado touched down in a rural area just after 5 p.m.
> Below: Meteorologist and storm chaser Cory Reppenhagen captured this video of a tornado near Akron at 5:17 p.m.
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