No injuries after lightning strike causes second-alarm fire in large Pigeon Hills home

No one was injured after officials say a lightning strike led to a second-alarm inferno that tore through the attached garage of a large home in the Pigeon Hills late Saturday night.

Firefighters were called around 11:50 p.m. on Saturday, July 26, 2025, for a report of a house on fire following a lightning strike on the 7900 block of Woodland Drive in Paradise Township, according to York County 911 records.

Upon arrival, they discovered fire showing from the rear of an attached garage of a large single-family A-frame style home that was up a steep and long driveway, and requested the working fire dispatch.

While the first firefighters were on the scene, an explosion occurred within the attached garage which led to the fire rapidly growing in size, Porters Volunteer Fire Company shared. Following the intense growth of the fire, a second alarm assignment was requested.

No injuries were reported, according to United Hook & Ladder officials.

The cause of the fire was determined to be a lightning strike on the property, United Hook & Ladder said, with the fire breaking out among intense and severe thunderstorms in the area.

Through intensive efforts, firefighters said that they were able to cut off the fire before it destroyed the remainder of the attached home, though the home experienced some fire damage along with extensive smoke and water damage.

The attached garage of the home, and rooms above it, collapsed onto the driveway as firefighters began to battle the blaze.

In addition to the challenges of heavy flames, high humidity, hot temperatures and torrential rain, firefighters had to manage rural water supply operations, with no hydrants in the area and a 1,900-foot driveway leading up steep mountainous terrain.

Firefighters also faced intense downpours throughout the incident, with additional storms moving through the area.

Firefighters remained on the scene for over five hours on Sunday morning, with many clearing the scene by around 5 a.m. that morning.

A GoFundMe fundraiser was started for the family affected by the fire, and had raised over $6,700 by Sunday evening. That GoFundMe can be found at www.tinyurl.com/fultonsfiredonation.

“As of now, all families have only the clothes on their backs,” the fundraiser shared.

In addition, the Hanover Community Church was accepting item and clothing donations for the family, which they said could be dropped off Monday, July 27, through Wednesday, July 29, at the church at 1959 Smith Station Road in Hanover.

“Please label the bags of clothing according to the sizes below and notify the church if you will be dropping anything off,” the church shared.

Among the greatest need, they said, was women’s size large or medium clothing, size 6 to 8 and shoe size 8-and-a-half, along with men’s medium clothing and large-tall, pants size 30 x 31 or 38×34 and shoes size nine-and-a-half.

United Hook & Ladder was assisted on the scene by numerous departments, including Porters Volunteer Fire Company, Hanover Area Fire & Rescue, Jefferson Volunteer Fire Company, Northeast Adams Fire & EMS, Nashville Volunteer Fire Department, Dover Township Volunteer Fire Department, Friendship Hose Company of Spring Grove, Northern York County Regional Police, Community LifeTeam EMS, Paradise Township Fire Department, Southeastern Adams Volunteer Emergency Services, York New Salem Fire Company, Irishtown Fire Company, North Codorus Township Fire Department, Glen Rock Fire Department, Seven Valleys Fire Company, Alpha Fire Company of Littlestown, Dover Borough Fire Company, and West Manchester Township Fire Department.

Harrison Jones is the Hanover reporter for the Evening Sun. Reach him at hjones@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Hanover Evening Sun: Hanover, Pa. house fire caused by lightning strike, officials say