Residents in a block of flats were forced to leave after a bolt of lightning struck their homes
Neighbours looked on in horror as a bolt of lightning hit the rear of a block of flats in Stanstret Field, Great Notley.
One neighbour described how the freak bolt of lightning hit a water mains, making it even more difficult for firefighters to tackle the blaze.
Storms swept across Essex yesterday afternoon and into the night, as the recent spell of good weather came to a dramatic end
Smoke could be seen billowing from the roof of the flats where the lightning had struck and started a fire, at just after 8pm yesterday
Two fire engines from Braintree and an aerial rescue platform from Colchester attended and firefighters doused the blaze in the upper storey of the flats.
The blaze was brought under control by 8.35pm.
Published Wednesday, June 18, 2003
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