Off-duty firefighter jumps into action when lightning strikes middle school

OLIN, N.C. — A local firefighter is being credited with saving a middle school after a lightning strike sparked a fire over the weekend. It struck North Iredell Middle School on Saturday, starting a fire on the roof.

No injuries have been reported.

Workers told Channel 9′s Dave Faherty they’re hoping to have the repairs to the roof finished up in the next couple of days.

A volunteer firefighter who lives across the street, about 200 yards away, saw it all happen.

Wesley Sloan showed Faherty where he spotted smoke rising from the roof of the eighth grade wing after storms moved through the area. The Harmony Volunteer Fire Department shared photos of the response and the damage.

“Had a big ol’ bolt of lightning, just lit up the sky real good,” Sloan said. “Thought it hit somewhere out in the field, around the house somewhere, and stuck my head out the door and saw some puffs of white smoke coming from the middle school there.”

Sloan, who’s been a firefighter since he was 14, called in the fire and went to the department to get a fire truck.

School principal Dr. Tonya Houpe heard the call dispatched and rushed to the school.

“He really saved us,” Houpe said. “The fire marshal told us later that had it not been for his quick action, we would have lost the entire roof of the school before it would have gotten to the point of triggering the alarm.”

The lightning caused the insulation underneath to catch fire, but it was contained to the foam backboard on the roof. The metal decking also prevented the fire from entering the building, the school said.

Outside North Iredell Middle on Tuesday, gratitude was on display for both the fire departments who responded and the neighborhood firefighter who was glad he could help.

“Are you a hero?” Faherty asked Sloan.

“No, just a concerned citizen who stepped in and did what anyone would do,” he said.

Sloan said because they were able to tackle the fire so quickly, it only took about 100 gallons of water to put it out. The district said all repairs will be done well before classes start in two weeks.

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