Local

Family of 8 displaced after lightning fire in Cedar Hills

A lightning fire at a home on Jacksonville's Westside devastated a family of eight.

They're now forced to look for another place to live after their garage caught fire.

This happened on Aldington Drive, near Colebrook Drive in Cedar Hills.

Action News Jax reproter Courtney Cole was the only one to speak to the family. They told her they haven’t even lived in the home for two years yet.

Davron Wright said Friday afternoon started like any other with a nap. The heavy rain is what made him get up. "[I] went to go get the kids because I noticed thunder and stuff and lightning,” Wright told Action News Jax.

The Action News Jax First Alert Weather Team was tracking up to 60 lightning strikes in the area in a 10-minute span around the time of the fire.

The father of six says when he returned to his home on Aldington Drive with his five kids, he smelled smoke.

Wright said his sixth child was in day care at the time of the fire.

"[I] went down to my laundry room, seen the smoke coming out, ended up going to the garage and seen the flames,” Wright said.

He called the fire department right away.

The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department said they received the call around 4:00 p.m. When they arrived on the scene, the garage was engulfed in flames.

Wright told me the garage is where he normally hangs out with the kids.

“[It’s] pretty much their area… and my area when I do watch sports and stuff like that.”

While they may have lost some material things… “All their Christmas toys they had left over was in there and different stuff I had. My catering equipment, my grills and stuff like that." He says they all made it out with the most important thing: their lives.

“I’m just happy about my kids. I might have lost something now, but we’ll get it back,” Wright said.

Wright said he’s grateful that he’s got family to lean on as they work to sort through what’s left and rebuild their catering business.

He said they’re also grateful for the quick response from JFRD.

JFRD says the home experienced electrical damage and smoke damage.