A family has had to leave their home after an electrical surge caused their home to catch on fire during heavy storms March 13.

The lightning was heavy that day as the county was being pounded with several inches of rain. Karnes City Volunteer Fire Department Chief Charlie Malik said he believes lightning caused an electrical surge that shorted a wire in a home owned by Michael and Maria Mohr on FM 81, four miles south of Hobson.

The heat produced by the short started a fire near the roof of the home and flames began eating away at the structure at around 4:45 p.m.

The fire department arrived a few minutes after the fire was reported and set to work in the middle of the storms.

"We got there and we saw fire coming out of the roof area," Malik said. "It was up in the attic and it burned through the peak of the roof — the side where the vent was. Our biggest concern was that most of the fire was … not actually down in the house. You have a situation there where if you go in and start pouring a bunch of water, the sheet rock ceiling starts falling and ruins everything in the house."

Volunteer firefighters gathered up furniture and possessions in the home and placed them together underneath a tarp before beginning the final stages of fire containment. The damage to the home from water and fire hasn’t been figured yet.

"Dollar wise, I couldn’t tell you," Malik said. "The attic has a lot of damage and the roof above it will have to be replaced. It’s not livable. Just putting enough water in there to keep (the fire) under control, well, all that sheet rock still gets soaking wet. Eventually it comes down. I think it’s rebuildable (but) that’s going to be between them and the insurance company."

The electrical surge likely didn’t start the fire all on its own, according to Malik. He said something else undeterminable likely contributed to the wire shorting where it did.

"It’s possible that there could’ve been some damage to that wire. This was old, old wiring. It’s possible that from all those years it just wore in two. We really don’t know," he said.

An account has been set up at Wells Fargo Bank to help defray the Mohr family’s expenses as their home is repaired.