BONNERS FERRY, Idaho — Ryan Jenkins and his family were enjoying the thunderstorm when they heard a large boom.
They didn't realize something was wrong until...
"It burnt my hand cause I was plugged in with my iPad just playing around," Ryan said.
Ryan also started smelling smoke. That's when he knew he had to evacuate his family.
"I really had to get out of the house," Ryan said. "I felt as though I was going to pass out. It was pretty intense."
The surge from the lightning burst one of the house's pipes, causing the house to flood. The lightning also burnt wires throughout the house, filling it with smoke.
"Every vent had smoke pouring out of it," Ryan said.
Ryan said the North Bench Volunteer Fire Department arrived only 20 minutes after their initial 911 call.
"They did an awesome job they came in looked around at everything found where the fire was at in the house, Ryan said.
In less than three hours, the fire department worked their way through the house and determined there were no hotspots or pipe leaks. Unfortunately for the Jenkins family, their entire house was left in shambles.
"The ceiling was raining, it was coming out of all the light fixtures out of the water out of the power outlets," Ryan said. "It was something."
More than 12 hours later, the carpets and floors still have puddles of water on them and electricity is out. But, even amidst the chaos, Ryan's staying positive.
"It is what it is family safe animals are fine," Ryan said. "We didn't lose you know a lot of our valuable stuff. Thank God it didn't catch on fire the rest of the house."
His neighbors have offered food and clothes and people are offering them places to stay.
"Been through thousands of thunderstorms. Never seen anything like it was last night," Ryan said.
The family says they're hoping to rent an RV to stay om while the home gets fixed. Renovations could take a couple months.
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