A MOTHER-OF-FIVE is counting the cost after lightning struck her home during a violent thunderstorm in Chippenham.
Brenda Saxby, 44, told the Chippenham News she was in a daze after the bolt sparked a fire in the bedroom of her Hill Rise home, destroying toys, photographs, and clothes.
Neighbours reported witnessing a flash and bang' as the lightning struck a TV aerial at about 7.15pm on Wednesday.
The bolt passed down the aerial into an upstairs airing cupboard, starting a fire and bursting a water pipe.
While rooms on both floors were flooding, a fire quickly spread upstairs with smoke billowing from windows.
Miss Saxby, who lives in the house with her children Annalise, 10, Ricky, 11, and Steve, 19, said the alarm was raised by her youngest child, who saw smoke
coming from the bedroom.
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She said; "I saw smoke billowing out of the bedroom door even though it was locked so I thought, get the kids outside'.
"It hasn't really sunk in. I don't really know what I am doing. I'm in a daze.
"I was thinking about getting insurance just the other week but I couldn't afford it."
Watching the fire from a neighbour's house, she said: "I looked from the back garden and I could see smoke billowing out of both top floor windows so I thought both rooms were on fire."
Two fire crews from Chippenham were on the scene within minutes to douse the flames and salvage family belongings.
Annalise's toy collection, kept in the loft, was ruined, along with clothes and jewellery belonging to Miss Saxby's daughter Lisa, 25, which were stored in an upstairs cupboard while she works as a holiday rep in Cyprus.
Neighbour Godfrey Hibberd, 58, of Barrow Green, said: "I was out in the kitchen doing some house work. I saw the sky light up and lightning hit the house and aerial.
"After the lightning struck I saw smoke coming from the aerial. The last time I saw a storm like this was in 1968 when all the lanes flooded in Chippenham."
Another neighbour Dave Austin, 67, of Hill Rise said: "I feel very sorry for the poor girl, she was only talking about house insurance last week but she couldn't afford it."
Westlea Housing Association, which owns the house, is rehoming the family while repairs are made.
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