SHARON SPRINGS -- A firefighter died after apparently collapsing while battling a house fire that was ignited by lightning, authorities said.
Jeffrey W. Howell, 42, a member of the Sharon Springs Fire Department, was one of the first firefighters at the scene of a farmhouse that caught fire just after 5 p.m. Thursday. He was working outside the house and suffered heat exhaustion when he collapsed, authorities said.
Lightning that struck the house at 503 Gilberts Corners Road came from a series of thunderstorms that rolled through the region late Thursday afternoon, causing flooding and other damage.
Howell previously was a firefighter at the Carlisle Fire Department.
Howell's visitation was held from 4-7 p.m. on Sunday in Cobleskill. The funeral was held today at 10 a.m. at the Zion Lutheran Church in Seward.
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