Official: Woman rescued after lightning apparently starts fire

Neighbors rescued a 91-year-old woman in a Wantagh house that caught fire after it apparently was struck by lightning Thursday afternoon, officials said.

“Several neighbors came to the aid of the elderly woman that lived at the house and they assisted at removing her from the house,” Kevin Regan, a spokesman for the Wantagh Fire Department, said.

“There was an apparent lightning strike,” Regan said.

He said the fire was reported at 4:34 p.m. and there was extensive damage to both floors of the home on Wedgewood Lane.

Neighbor Larry Lane said he ran across the street and banged on the front door, but got no response.

“I ran around the back of the house. There were two gentlemen with an older lady. She was very horrified by what was going on, so we lifted her and we removed from the back of the house,” Lane said.

Regan said the woman was taken to Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow for evaluation.

A dog in the house was rescued by firefighters, he said.