The residence of Cecil and Mary Jo Ellis at 11462 State Highway Y was destroyed by an apparent lightening strike and fire. Fire fighters from Kennett and Senath responded to the blaze. [Click to enlarge]

According to Assistant Fire Chief David Horton, the Kennett Fire Department had a very busy night Tuesday night, fighting fires and floods.

Fire fighters responded to a fire at 11462 State Highway Y to a house that, he said, had apparently been struck by lightening. That call came in at 3:52 a.m. Wednesday.

Fire fighters responded earlier in the morning, at about 1 a.m. Horton said, to a residence at Beaton Street at Kennett. Apparently, he said, a woman had set fire to her husband's clothes.

No injuries or arrests were reported to the newspaper regarding that incident. Telephone calls to the Kennett Police Department regarding an arrest in connection with that fire have not been returned.

Additionally, Horton said that the fire department had sent four fire fighters and one engine to Piedmont, Mo. to assist that community with the consequences of the flooding there [See related flood stories on this page and on page three.].

Horton said he had never seen the likes of what he saw when responding to the residence of Cecil and Mary Jo Ellis on State Highway Y. Apparently, Horton said, "lightening struck the house, knocking one wall off the foundation and knocking one of the residents out of the bed."

The structure at 11462 State Highway Y was destroyed by the fire and lightening strike.

A report from the fire department said the east bedroom wall of the house had been blown outward.