EDMOND, Okla. --
A lightning-detection system is helping Edmond firefighters determine the causes of some fires more quickly and with less expense.
The system helped them figure out what started a fire that damaged a home in Edmond early Wednesday morning. They ran a report through Strike Net that indicated when and where lightning strikes occurred.
"Right here at 6:04:17 this morning, they had a negative," said Edmond fire Maj. Micah Weaver.
The report said there were as many as six lightning strikes in the area where the fire started. It confirmed what the homeowner and neighbors said he thought started the fire.
"It was so loud, it woke everyone up," said neighbor Jason Jameson.
Firefighters determined that the lightning strike caused the fire within an hour of leaving the scene.
Strike Net asks investigators to enter an address and a credit card number and the time they think the fire started. It returns with the answer and a charge for $95.
"(It said) with nearly 100 percent certainty that we had a lightning strike and I will stop my investigation there," said Weaver. He said that leaves the property intact for the insurance company to examine.
Weaver said that insurance companies and the public can also use it.
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