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Lightning Strike Sparks Fire In Attic Of Orland Park Home

ORLAND PARK, Ill. (CBS) -- Lightning started a fire in an Orland Park house Wednesday afternoon, and the homeowner's hunch prevented damage from being worse than it was.

To look at the outside of Donna Keane's house on 175th and Karli Lane, you would never guess there was a fire started by lightning there on Wednesday.

"We were very lucky that there's no hole in the roof. You don't see any tarp on there and stuff. So they said they don't know if it came in through a vent, or even a nail or something," she said a day after the fire.

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After hearing what she described as the sound of "a truck hitting our house" Keane had her 16-year old son, Vic, help her check the house for any signs of a lightning strike.

They found nothing; until Keane decided to pull down the attic access door and check. She said she got two steps up the ladder, and saw flames, and shouted to her son to call the fire department.

Vic Keane said Orland Park firefighters were arrived within three minutes and made short work of the fire. Firefighters were on the scene pulling down walls and checking for any other signs of fire for a couple of hours after that.

Donna Keane credited the Orland Fire Protection District with doing a great job in covering her first-floor belongings with tarps to prevent valuable items from being damaged by water.

She said she believes "angels" were watching over her and her son yesterday so that the fire wasn't worse than it was.

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