Lightning Caused Breaker Outage in Hillside Avenue Home

Chatham Borough Fire Chief Peter Glogolich said a Hillside Avenue home suffered an outage of one breaker after it was struck by lightning Friday evening.

A neighbor facing the rear of the 112 Hillside Ave. home reported the lightning strike to officials. Glogolich and the borough's Emergency Management Coordinator Bill Nauta said a small fire may have broken out, but the heavy rain apparently put it out before officials arrived on the scene.

"It's singed and there's soot back there, but it's not hot," Glogolich said.

The damage appears limited to two spots on the roof near the rear of the house. Glogolich found a shingle, visibly missing from the roof, on a pathway leading to the home's backyard.

Glogolich said the residents of the home were not home at the time of the strike. Officials vacated the area at approximately 7:45 p.m.

Thunder sounded and lightning struck Friday afternoon as a storm hit Chatham and surrounding towns.

Power outages were reported in Madison and East Hanover.

The NWS said radar readings showed "a line of severe thunderstorms" capable of winds of up to 60 miles per hour and possible hail.