A TAVISTOCK family had a lucky escape when lightning caused a fire which destroyed the roof of their home last Friday morning.

Geraldine Nickson and her daughters, Chloe, 14, and Amy, 17, were listening to the thunder on Friday morning when Geraldine's TV set was hit by a lightning strike.

She said: 'I was sat beside my portable television and it just exploded — I didn't know the house was on fire.

'Chloe had pulled the curtains and said she didn't fancy walking to school, I had got out of bed and then the whole house went bang — it was just like a bomb.'

Geraldine said Chloe was terrified by the strike — then her neighbour called to alert them to the danger above their heads.

'He was banging on the door, saying "Your house is on fire, your house is on fire",' said Geraldine.

The family grabbed what they could, including Chloe's pet cockatiel, and took refuge with a neighbour across the street.

'I could see the flames coming out of the roof,' said Geraldine.

'Everything in the attic was burned and it was bedlam here — two fire engines arrived, the police arrived, there were people coming around to look and we were just standing there, feeling like waifs and strays.'

Chloe said the whole experience, which started when 'blue sparks came flying from the TV', was a nightmare.

'It was so scary,' she said. 'I never thought anything like that would happen to us.'

Tavistock fire chief Chris Neale said the heat in the loft of the house was 'phenomenal' when the crews arrived in the height of the storm.

Mr Neale said: 'We had the fire under control quite quickly and we managed to prevent any damage to the rest of the house, but the heat was phenomenal for a short period of time.

'The actual flash of the lightning scored all the timbers in the roof and caught all the personal effects on fire. The damage was extensive — the whole roof will have to be replaced.'

Mr Neale said it was 'very lucky' the two crews were able to get to the terraced house quickly, enabling them to prevent the fire spreading to neighbouring properties.

'It must have been very frightening for the occupants,' he added.

The storm meant a busy morning for other firecrews in the area. Yelverton brigade was called to Harewood House in Tavistock where alarms were set off by the storm and the firecrew from Bere Alston was called to deal with a telegraph pole near Tavistock Hospital which had been hit by lightning.

And at Buckland Monachorum lightning hit an oak tree, causing a split from the top of the tree down to the roots.